The clock told him it was quarter to 10. Axel sighed lightly and looked at the sleeping form on top of him. He was so much cuter when he slept, but Axel never told him that. It would be cruel to get up and wake Roxas, so Axel remained, kissing Roxas lightly on the forehead and placing his head back onto the armrest and waiting for the blonde to wake.

*^~._-=-_.~^*

It was about half an hour later when Roxas awoke, yawning and stretching, before realising he wasn’t in the bedroom, nor on a bed.
“Morning.”
He looked to his left. He was on top of Axel. Looking around, he was also in the front room. Then he remembered.
‘Oh yeah.’
“Good morning!” he smiled back, as enthusiastic as ever. Axel smiled back, always pleased when his companion was. Roxas bent and kissed Axel before sliding off him and going to the kitchen.
“I’ll be with you in a minute Rox!” Axel called, wanting to stay comfy a little longer. He also had some morning wood to take care of.

*^~._-=-_.~^*

A few minutes later, Axel dragged himself off the sofa and into the kitchen, breakfast waiting on the table. Roxas briefly looked up from his crossword and smiled before dropping his eyes back to his newspaper on the table in front of him. Axel sat down and simply ate, no words passing the air between them. He finished a few minutes later, dumping his plate in the sink and walking upstairs. Roxas gave up on the crossword, throwing his pen down in frustration. He simply scraped his chair backwards and also walked out, into the front room this time. They didn’t see each other for most of the day, a fairly unusual thing in their house. It was about half 8 in the evening when Roxas decided to go upstairs himself. He opened the door to the bedroom to see Axel asleep on top of the covers, obviously not bothered about getting changed, and/or actually getting into the bed. Roxas crept over and attempted to carefully lie next to him – and failed miserably.
“Nice try Rox...” Axel muttered, his face buried in his arm. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing soft emerald green pools underneath the lids.
“You been asleep all day?”
“Yeah...”
“How come?”
”You kept me up all night with your moaning.”
Roxas’ cheeks flushed cherry red and you could practically see the giant sweatdrop run down his forehead.
“Ehehe...”
“You were dreaming about me again, weren’t you?”
“AGAIN?!?!”
“Yeah, you’ve done it quite a few times.”
His face reddened a little more, and the sweatdrop grew.
“I’ve managed to sleep through it most of the time though.”
“Oh...okay...”
He opened his mouth to speak again, but instead of words, a subtle moan escaped his lips. Axel had touched him. Not where Roxas would have normally expected, however. But that was it. No more. Roxas glanced quizzically at Axel.
“Just seeing what happens.”
Roxas tutted and crawled back off the bed, heading for the door. He took hold of the frame and looked back.
“Coming?”
“Sure.” Axel smiled and clambered of the bed himself, following the uke downstairs.

*^~._-=-_.~^*


Once more the kettle was boiled and the coffee made.
“So, what’s been on your mind?” Axel asked, sipping at his drink.
“Well, mainly you, but also coffee, and...that’s it.” He beamed.
“Okay...anyway,” he drank the whole mug of coffee, “thanks for the coffee.”
“Yeah sure...”
Axel paused as he placed his cup on the sink.
“What’s up?”
“Hmm? Oh nothing.”
“No, something’s wrong, I can tell.”
“No. I swear.”
“Liar.”
“...”
Axel walked over to Roxas, who was propped against the washing machine, placing his hands on Roxas’ hip, a curious look on his face as he looked up from his coffee.
“Tell me. Now”
Roxas winced and withdrew from Axel.
“Honestly, there’s nothing wrong.”
“Honestly?”
Roxas nodded, kissed Axel, slipped from his hands and finished his coffee, placing his cup alongside Axel’s on the sink and grabbing the car keys as he left.
“I’ll be back in an hour, if not less.” And the door was shut.
“But it’s almost half 9...”

*^~._-=-_.~^*

It was almost midnight, and Roxas still hadn’t returned. Axel was slouched in the front room armchair, waiting for Roxas. He lifted himself, took the front door key, headed out and locked up. Naturally it was pitch black outside, only a few street lamps leading the way. Music was drifting from somewhere down the road, drunken voices singing along. It was karaoke night at The Tonberry’s Knife, the local pub, open ‘til two in the morning. Seeing as though that was the only place open at this time, Axel headed for the front door.

   Walking into the building, the atmosphere immediately hit him. People were swaying left and right, singing with the guy on stage, who had obviously had a bit too much himself.  Glancing around, he found the bar and squeezed through the crowd to get to a stool.
“I’ll have a pint of bitter please.”
“Sure.” The bartender poured a glass and placed it on the mat in front of Axel.
“That’ll be 200 munny.”
Axel fished around in his back pocket and pulled out a handful of tiny orbs, counting them as he flicked through the pile.
“Here.” He handed most of them to the man before him, replacing the rest in his pocket. With the other hand, he picked up his pint, sipping at the froth before taking a few swigs. Axel sat there for the best part of half an hour, watching the karaoke. He finished his drink and put it down on the bar. Muttering a “thanks” to the bartender, he slid off the stool and turned to the exit. As he did so, a flash of blonde crossed his vision and he looked back. Roxas was slumped against one of the seat dividers, bottle of vodka in one hand, blood trickling down his forehead, a broken beer glass in the floor in front of him, eyes closed.
“Shit!”
Axel ran through the throng, shoving people aside. He almost tripped a few times, eventually doing so, landing close to Roxas. He rose to his knees and shuffled forwards.
“Rox...hey Rox?”
No answer. Axel gently slapped Roxas’ face. Still no response.
“Crap.”
He lifted Roxas into his arms, carrying him out of the pub and down the road.

*^~._-=-_.~^*

Laying Roxas carefully down on the sofa, Axel rushed to get a bandage, some water and a cloth. He swiftly returned, practically collapsed beside Roxas and began cleaning the gash on his forehead. He wrapped the bandage around Roxas’ head, securing it tightly. And then he sat there, all night, waiting for Roxas.

---To Be Continued---