"Are you ready, are you ready, are you ready?" Sora bounced up and down, asking Kairi, his best friend, about their class field trip. Kairi shrugged with a tame smile, "It's not like we've never been to the clock tower before."

"But you've never been with me." The two turned to see Axel, Kairi's cousin. The tall redhead stood over the childhood friends. The three continued their light conversation when more of their classmates showed up.

"You guys ready?" The blonde with the mullet Mohawk asked as he walked up to his classmates holding the hand to his shy boyfriend.

"Alright Demyx! I didn't think you'd be able to make it." Axel high fived his best friend.

"Me either, but I'm telling you, I didn't go into the girls bathroom on purpose!"

"Sure you didn't." Axel put his hands on his curvy hips.

"So how did you end up in there?" Sora tilted his head and Zexion smirked.

"I, uh, I saw Marluxia walking into one bathroom, and for a second, I mistook him for a girl, so I didn't bother paying attention and just walked into the opposite bathroom."

"How long did it take for you to realize that you were in the girls bathroom?" Kairi asked with a small blush.

"Till I saw Larxene fixing her panties." Demyx hung his head low and Sora twisted his face in disgust.

"You poor thing." Axel shook his head with a smile.

"Speak of the devil." Zexion whispered as the only three girls in the class joined their circle.

"Is Mr. Squall not here yet?" Larxene yawned.

"It's Leon." Their teacher finally showed up, having a strict rule about only being called by his first name.

"Leon!" Sora cheered, ready to board the bus, if only his twin, Roxas, weren't missing.

"You all ready?" Leon asked, breaking out his attendance sheet, calling over the rest of his students in the back of his class.

"Let's see, Sora is here…where's Roxas?" Leon was surprised to see one twin without the other. Sora shrugged. "Ok, well Axel is,"

"Here!" The tall redhead yelled, despite the fact that he stood right next to his brunette teacher.

Leon sighed, checked off Axel's name, and continued calling roll. "Ok Demyx is here, Zexion's here, Larxene, Kairi, and Namine are all here; Seifer's here, and Riku's here; Hayner's here, Pence and Olette are here. Is Rai here?" Leon looked up from his list.

"I'm here, ya know?"

"So the only one missing is Roxas? Leon asked, looking to Seifer. It was no secret that Seifer was dating Roxas, and that he didn't necessarily treat Roxas ideally, or decently for that matter.

"Sorry I'm late." Roxas ran into the classroom and handed Leon his permission slip.

"Ok we're all here. I'm sure most of you know Mr. Strife, who goes by Cloud, who will also be driving the bus as an extra chaperone. So I want you all to behave, got it?" Leon asked.

"Sure, we got it memorized." Axel pointed to his temple.

"Alright, listen up for your buddies! I want you two to sit on the bus together, take notes together, work on your project together, and cooperate." Leon's purpose of taking his class to the Twilight Town clock tower was to have them learn about its history and work on a project of it.

"I want Roxas to work with Axel," the short blonde sighed as Leon spoke; he knew his boyfriend, Seifer, wouldn't be happy about it; that, and he really didn't know the redhead that well.

"Hayner will work with Rai, Larxene with Olette, Zexion with Kairi, Pence with Seifer, Demyx with Namine, and finally Sora with Riku." Sora lost his usual enthusiasm; he had never talked to Riku and hardly knew a thing about him. They all knew that their partners would be assigned to them, and in a class with several dating couples, Leon made sure to break them up.

"Make sure you know your buddy and start brainstorming project ideas on the bus." Leon said as he led his students to the front of the school where Cloud was waiting in the bus.

All the students boarded, sitting next to their buddy's: Seifer and Pence in the back with Roxas and Axel in front of them and Sora and Riku next. Across from Pence, at the back on the left side of the bus, sat Rai and Hayner, then Namine and Demyx, then Kairi and Zexion, and finally Larxene and Olette towards the front. Each student go their own chair while Leon stood by Cloud, who was going to drive the entire two hours it took to get there.

Right away, there were problems. The repetitive tapping of Larxene's nails against the window drove Olette crazy; Kairi was frustrated that Zexion wouldn't get his nose out of his book; Demyx's ipod was blasting near Namine's ear, and Hayner worked hard not to give Rai a black eye every time he asked, 'ya know?'.

Pence felt uncomfortable watching the way Seifer constantly kicked the back of Roxas' chair, hurting the poor blonde who tried to ignore the jolts in his back. That only pissed off Axel. As for Sora and Riku, Sora kept his eyes glued to his window, still feeling let down that he was stuck working with Riku.

"You ok?" Riku asked, picking up those non-friendly vibes from the self-isolated Sora.

"Yeah, I'm just bored." Sora huffed.

"Let's play a game." Riku suggested and Sora finally turned to face him.

"Like what?"

"I spy?" Riku offered and Sora nodded. "Ok, I'll start." Riku put a hand to his chin. "I spy with my lil eye….something that is blue."

While Sora guessed away incorrectly, Seifer continued to kick harder and harder.

"Tell him to stop." Axel grumbled to Roxas. He didn't know the blonde sitting next to him that well, but he didn't care. Roxas kept silent; Seifer kicked even harder.

"Tell him to knock it off." Axel turned to Roxas, who continued to gaze out the window, even as his body flew forward with each kick. Then, Seifer punched the seat violently, right where Roxas' head was, as the victimized blonde held his head, holding in a groan of pain.

"Quit it!" Axel snapped around and yelled at Seifer.

"Mind your own damn business!" Seifer retorted. Axel sat back down with an unsatisfied sigh as Seifer continued to kick away.

"Is it Demyx's shorts?" Sora was running out of ideas.

"Nope."

"RIkuuu! There's nothing else that's blue." Sora crossed his arms.

"I'm staring right at it." Riku said and Sora whipped his head around to look behind and everywhere around him.

"Where?"

"Here." Riku said and Sora turned back to face him.

"Are you tricking me?" Sora asked.

"Nope. Look in the window." Riku said and Sora did.

"All I see are buildings and cars."

"Need a clue?" Riku asked and Sora turned back to nod. "They're blue, round, and big."

"You can only spy one thing!" Sora complained and Riku smiled.

"Give up?"

"No!" Sora turned back to the window, and after ten long seconds, he turned back. "Is it, my eyes?"

Riku smiled widely as he nodded. "Correct."

Sora blushed. "I cant think of anything; you go again." Sora said, not knowing how or why Riku's smile could stun him like that.

"I spy with my little eye, something pink."

"Oh. My. God." Axel fisted his hands, fed up with Roxas' tolerance of his boyfriend's stupidity.

"Sorry." Roxas uttered his first word since Cloud started driving, forty minutes ago.

"Why do you put up with it?" Axel whispered and, still looking out his window, Roxas shrugged.

Seifer punched the back of Roxas' head again, and Axel lost it.

"Knock it off prick!"

"Fuck you!" Seifer yelled back.

"Hey! Keep it down." Leon commanded, silencing everyone for just a moment.

With a smirk on his face, Seifer kicked the seat once again, aiming high.

"OW!" Roxas put a hand over his shoulder and Axel grabbed his arm, pulled him off of his chair, and switched seats so that Roxas was sitting in front of Pence instead.

"Pence, switch with me." Seifer demanded and a nervous Pence hesitated.

"I don't think that I should."

"Fine!" Seifer kicked the chair in front of Pence's without moving, still hitting Roxas.

"Fuck this." Axel sighed, grabbing Roxas' arm once again, pulling him out of his seat, and into his lap. Axel wrapped his arms around Roxas' arms and stomach, forcing the boy to stay put. To his surprise, Roxas didn't even want to fight back; there was something about Axel's arms that felt secure and…warm.

"Get my boyfriend out of your lap!" Seifer hissed.

"Make me." Axel glared harshly; he was much taller than Seifer and the blonde knew that.

"He's mine and I can treat him however I want." Seifer growled.

"If you keep treating him like shit then who says that he'll be yours any longer?" Axel turned back around and Seifer was silent.

"Thank you." Roxas whispered, turning his head, resting against Axel.

"Don't mention it." Axel whispered back, loosening his grip, realizing that he never even asked or thought about whether this shy blonde wanted to be in his lap.

"And it's not Kairi's phone?" Sora didn't see anything pink in the bus, or outside it.

"Nope; it's not Kairi's phone. Need another hint?" Riku asked and Sora sighed.

"Yes please."

"It's pink, soft, and juicy."

"Hmm," Sora put a hand to his chin. "Is it a strawberry?"

"Do you see any here?"

"I cant see anything pink!" Sora got frustrated and Riku laughed. "Quit laughing at me." Sora turned red in embarrassment and Riku shook his head.

"Want another hint? I'm looking right at it." Riku said and when Sora turned around to see nothing but the cars driving on the freeway, he turned back around and stood up, about to playfully hit Riku when the bus jerked and he fell.

"Sora!" Riku caught Sora as the boy fell on top of him. Riku held Sora tightly and when Sora looked into Riku's deep aquamarine eyes, he gulped. "Want to know whats pink?" Riku asked and Sora, still just inches from Riku's face, nodded. "These." Riku said, pressing his lips to Sora's. Sora gasped into the kiss, not sure how he felt. When Riku broke the gentle peck, Sora's face flushed before he took his seat again.

"I don't like this game." Sora said, turning to the window, staring at the cars as they drove by.

"Half-way there!" Leon cheered and the students groaned.

"That's it?" Hayner rolled his eyes and Rai shrugged.

"It's not that bad, ya know?"

"Shut up!" Hayner yelled and Rai shook his head.

"Zexion, can we please talk about our project now?" Kairi begged.

"I was thinking of writing a research paper." Zexion pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"That's so boring!" Kairi sighed angrily.

"A song?" Namine asked and Demyx nodded.

"Yeah, like, we can turn all the facts and dates and names into lyrics and make a song for our project." Demyx smiled, searching through his ipod to listen to music to get inspiration.

"I don't really sing." Namine cleared her throat subtly.

"If you write it and I sing it, then we'll each get credit." Demyx suggested and the timid blonde girl nodded.

"I can do that." She smiled sweetly.

"So a photo album?" Larxene asked Olette.

"Yea, I brought my camera and we can take pictures and make a photo album for our project."

"Sounds like a plan." Larxene agreed.

"Listen up Pence, I'm only going to say this once. You're going to work on it, I'm going to put my name on it, and we better get an A." Seifer said and Pence winced.

"I don't think that's how group pairings are supposed to work Seifer."

"What do you want to do?" Axel asked Roxas, who was still sitting comfortably in his lap.

"It doesn't matter to me." Roxas shrugged, a bit embarrassed that he was still using Axel's chest as a pillow. True he never really cared to talk to this redhead before, but he just saved him, and he was thankful for that. Of course, he knew that he'd only have to pay for it later, cause when Seifer gets jealous, he takes it all out on Roxas. Seifer had rules that Roxas had to follow to date him; shitty rules that he had no choice but to obey; rules like: he couldn't be alone with another guy; he couldn't stare at a girls boobs, he couldn't make sexual jokes unless it was to and with Seifer, and the most important rule: he had to remember his place. Seifer was most strict about that last rule, the one that Axel helped him break.

"You ok?" Axel asked, noticing how Roxas was still very quiet and reserved.

"Just tired." Roxas answered truthfully. Roxas was late to class that morning because he spent the night at Seifer's house, which kept Roxas up by a violent love making and morning beating.

"Go to sleep." Axel said simply.

"Here?" Roxas asked, not sure if it was actually ok.

"Yea." Axel smiled, moving slightly so that way Roxas could get more comfortable. With his arms around Axel's neck, the blonde boy napped for the rest of the bus ride.

"What do you want to do for our project?" Riku asked as they neared their destination. Since he kissed Sora, the brunette fell silent.

"Don't care." Sora said, feeling extremely shy for a reason unlike any he ever had. He'd always been the loud, friendly, social twin, compared to Roxas' quiet and reserved personality. But this time, that kiss, those eyes, it took all the words out of his mouth.

"Just keep thinking about it." Riku said, feeling bad, but not enough to regret his actions.

"Alright everyone, remember to stay with your buddies and that we will meet back here in two hours to go to the beach after." Leon said, reminding everyone that this field trip wouldn't be a completely boring time.

"Yes!" Demyx high fived his timid, blonde partner, who giggled at his outburst of energy.

"Let's go." Leon waved, leading the students out of the bus while most took their time, still tired from the bumpy ride.

"Roxas, wake up." Axel lightly shook Roxas' sleeping body.

"Get up!" Seifer reached over Axel from the walk way and pulled his boyfriend to his feet, yanking him to his side.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Axel asked, feeling sorry for Roxas, who woke up startled and in fear.

"Get lost." Seifer blew him off, dragging Roxas out of the bus.

"Ok from now on, it's you and your buddy. Remember to ask questions if you need to, and take lots of notes. Meet back here in two hours!" Leon dismissed his students, each of the pairs taking off into the clock tower as tour guides were made available for them.

"You ok?" Axel asked Roxas when Seifer reluctantly had to let go of him.

"Yeah; I have to go to the bathroom though." Roxas said, scurrying off and Axel looked around, spotting Pence wandering around without Seifer.

"Hey, where's your buddy?" Axel asked the short brunette.

"Hmmm, I think he went to the bathroom. Why?" Pence shrugged.

"Thanks!" Axel said, taking off in direction of the bathroom.

"I told you not to be such a fucking slut!" Seifer hit Roxas in the gut, causing the boy to bend over, holding himself. "Way to make me look bad." Seifer put him in a headlock.

"Sorry!" Roxas chocked for air.

"I can't hear you!" Seifer yelled and Roxas gasped.

"Sorry!" He screeched just as Axel opened the door.

"What the fuck is going on?" Axel rolled up his sleeves as Seifer pushed Roxas to the ground.

"Nothing." Seifer walked towards Axel, and when they're bodies were side by side, Axel stopped him.

"Touch him again, and I'll fuck you up." Axel glared into Seifer's eyes, which he rolled.

"Whatever." Seifer pushed himself past Axel's hand and exited the bathroom.

"You ok?" Axel stooped down to help Roxas up.

"Yeah." Roxas held onto his hand, letting himself be pulled up.

"You sure?" Axel asked, seeing just how fragile this blonde boy had become.

"Yeah." Roxas blinked quickly, trying to get over the swollen eye he had developed much earlier that morning.

"You cant let him do this to you." Axel said, not usually one to butt into other people's lives, but this was different.

"I'm fine." Roxas coughed, walked to the sinks, and spat, surprised and yet not to see blood.

"Roxas." Axel sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm fine." Roxas repeated, wiping his mouth with his arm and leaving the bathroom.

Author's Note: I feel bad that I haven't posted in a while, so I decided to just post this first chapter in my short story. I'm just going to warn you now that there is MORE cussing, beatings, and even rape involved. I'm sorry if you don't like those three factors, but right now I'm going through a lot and it helps for me to write about things that help me deal with my own personal experiences. I'll just leave it at that. I hope you enjoyed my story and I hope that you continue to read it.

Thank you for reading!

Heart, Sarabellum