Chapter 26.

“FUCK NO!”

“Come back here you little cunt before I tell your father!”

Vexen had never really been the maternal type. She only had kids because it was what Ansem had wanted. So three kids, two affairs and one loveless marriage later, Vexen was more irritable than she had ever been In her life. And it didn’t really help that she wasn’t getting any.

“I don’t give a shit!”

Riku stormed up the stairs. He reached his bedroom door, wrenched it open, slammed it shut and punched it. Fucking brilliant. His mother wanted to go back home to see his grandparents. He and Namine unfortunately had to go. He loved his Grammy and Grandpa but he couldn’t bring himself to see Marluxia. Honestly, what do you say to someone who you’ve been friends with for 15 years, when they tell you they’re gay and in love with you? Exactly.

“FUCK!”

Riku screamed and punched the door again. He now had a searing pain shooting up and down his arm on top of the pain in his head. He and his mother had shouted themselves hoarse over the breakfast bar. He would refuse. Just not go. He realised he was being childish and making a big deal out of nothing but that as the way he was.
   He realised his mother had called him a “cunt” and other swear words. Something must be seriously up if she was swearing at him? All he could do now is go and pray that he didn’t run into Marluxia…
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“Fuck sake! Stop it!”

Roxas glowered at the two boys in front of him. They were at each other’s throats for the third time in the last 10 minutes. They tore their eyes from each other to look in opposite directions, folding their arms.

“You guys are being childish!” Roxas began. “You didn’t talk all week to each other. You are best friends. You shouldn’t let some stupid mistake get in the way of that.”

The last sentence cut Axel deep. He didn’t feel that way. He didn’t feel it was a mistake at all. And he had a suspicion Roxas didn’t either. They had been throwing comments and looks to each other, flirting and hinting about what had happened last Saturday.

One week on and Roxas and Axel were back to normal. Roxas and Demyx were back to normal, so that just left Demyx and Axel. Roxas, sensing Axel’s dejection, hastily changed the subject.

“Back to the matter at hand!” He put his hands on his hips and tried to look as menacing as possible. “If you two don’t make up, I’ll stop talking to both of you.”

“Empty threat!” Demyx and Axel chimed in unison. They looked at each other and almost smiled until Demyx remembered he was mad at Axel. They both turned to face Roxas again.

“Anyway,” Roxas continued, “Riku needs our help!”

“Big whoop he likes Sora,” Demyx pouted and spat out his words. “Whoop-de-fuckin’-do.”

“Yeah but he’s confused Dem!” Axel whined. He seemed determined to end the quarrel with Demyx.

“So? You don’t need to know if your gay or not. He should just go for it.”

“Maybe for you,” Roxas said. “But the rest of us generally like to know what’s going on in our heads.”

Demyx shrugged and looked away.

Axel looked crestfallen. Demyx really didn’t want to be friends. But he would get him back. He was sure of it.

“So! Rox I assume you have a plan?” Axel smiled broadly.

Roxas returned the smile warmly. The look in his eyes let Axel know that he wasn’t lost to him.

“Indeed I do---not.” Roxas smiled wider. “That’s why I’ve invited you two along to help!”

Demyx made a fist and bunched the sheets of Roxas’s bed together. He couldn’t stand being in the same room as Axel. All he wanted to do was leave. But he knew he couldn’t, he had to try for Roxas. He could pretend for the rest of his life if it made Roxas happy but he would never forgive Axel. Never.

Roxas had begun talking when they heard a mumble through the bedroom door. They panicked thinking it may have been Sora. Then they would have no chance to think of a plan properly until next weekend. But no. It wasn’t Sora’s enthusiastic tones reaching their ears, but the mumble and occasional giggle of one, Mr. Strife.

“Ewwe!” Roxas whispered, his face wiped of panic, replaced by disgust. “My dad! Giggling! Like a fricken love struck school girl!”

Axel grunted and broke into silent laughter, clutching his stomach. Demyx didn’t even turn around to look at them. Roxas knew he was having a hard time coping with Axel being around. He didn’t have long to linger on this thought because what he heard from the other side of the door made him feel like his insides had shrivelled up.

“Yeah of course!…As soon as I can get out. Fancy a game of “Basketball” this evening?” He heard his father giggle again. Hearing him talk seductively down the phone made him want to hurl. His parents talking dirty over the phone!

“Yeah I’ll be there by seven, play for a while and as long as I’m back before 10, Tifa’ll be fine.”

Roxas jaw dropped.

“Oh! And you better be…ready, for me. See you soon.”

Cloud clearly had no idea that his son, his boyfriend and best friend were in the nest room. He must have decided to roam around the apparently empty house on the phone. Roxas was frozen staring at the door. His father was cheating on his mother? How could he do that to her?
  Roxas felt a surge of anger. He couldn’t stand it. He had never particularly enjoyed his mother and her nagging or sternness, but he knew she didn’t deserve this.

Axel and Demyx had heard too. They didn’t really know what to say. Every family in the sub had their drama but due the fact that everyone was too proud to confide in one another, the stories never got out. No one really knew why Axel’s mother left or why Luxord had tried to kill himself 15 years ago. They all just knew it happened and they didn’t ask questions. But now, they knew that Cloud, one of the nicest guys you could meet, had a mistress. They would never tell, they couldn’t do that to the twins but one question was on everyone’s minds; Who?
   It was a small town where everyone knew each other. Could it be possible that this woman, who ever she was, was right under their noses?

    Roxas was the first person to break the silence when he moved to sit on Sora’s bed next to Axel. Jealousy sparked in Demyx’s eyes. He didn’t really care that Cloud was cheating on Tifa. Everyone around here did it and to be frank, if no one else could, he could see that Cloud and Tifa weren’t as stable as a couple as they made out to be. Deciding he should leave, Demyx stood up. The other boys looked up as he crossed the gap between the beds and made to climb out the window.

“Dem?” Roxas asked turning. “You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, I’m really…tired.”

“It’s 3 in the afternoon?”

“Yeah I didn’t sleep too well so yeah I’ll see you later you guys.”

And with that he dropped out of sight.

Axel and Roxas sat in silence for a few moments, remembering the last time they had been alone together in a bedroom. Axel grinned, as did Roxas.

“We can still be friends right Rox?”

“What?” Roxas looked abashed. “Of Course you idiot!”

Roxas slapped Axel lightly up the side of his head and they both laughed.

“Good. SO yeah I’d better be heading home, before it rains.” He stood up and turned towards the window.

“You guys really like the window don’t you?” Roxas raised an eyebrow.

“Well yeah! And the fact is, if I go out the front door your dad will know we heard him!”

“You make an excellent point red!” Roxas giggled as Axel mocked offence.

“Red?” He pouted making Roxas laugh harder.

“Look Axel why don’t you stay over tonight, to mark the recovery of our friendship!” Roxas smiled goofily.

“Sure!” Axel’s stomach leapt, but sank again at the word “friendship.”

“Okay come back around 6: 30?”

“Done!”

And with that he swung out over the widow ledge and dropped, rolling when he landed.

Man, Roxas though. Those boys really can jump. That must be a 10 foot drop.

He laughed before lying back on Sora’s bed and closing his eyes.
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Riku sat up in bed. 5:30 the red digits on his clock read. He had been so angry earlier he just decided to sleep it off. It worked surprisingly well. He rose, the chill or the cold room hitting his bare skin, causing him to break out in Goosebumps and the short hairs of his neck and legs to rise. Even after sleeping, his body still felt weak and he was feeling groggy. He went to the bathroom and stayed in for several minutes. He sniffed several times and his throat was itchy. After washing his hands he climbed into bed and turned on his T.V. Within minutes the platinum haired boy had fallen asleep.
   If only he had stayed awake a few minutes longer, he would have received a call from a certain boy who creeped him out and made him feel abnormally hot at the same time.
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Tap. Tap. TAP. TAP!

Roxas shot up staring abround nonplussed. He searched around for the source of the tap that had woken him from his nap. He located it as another pebble hit the bedroom window. He looked out to see rain, lashing down. He looked down to where he knew his front lawn was and through the gray blur of the rain, he saw a cluster of red.

“Idiot! He should have come in the door!”

Roxas opened the window and without thinking he climbed down. He almost slipped a few times but when he reached the ground he proceeded to slap Axel around the head.

“The door Axel! Now is not the time to play!”

Roxas could barely see Axel, even though he was only a few feet in front of him. He swept his sopping flattened hair from his eyes, frowning.

“I would have used the door but your parents are fighting! I didn’t want to disturb!”

Roxas’s eyes grew wide. How could he not have heard them? He was only upstairs and now that Axel mentioned it, he could heard his parents screaming from inside even through the rain lashing against the windows.

Axel smiled and dropped his bag to the ground. He pushed Roxas. He hadn’t been expecting it so he stumbled backwards and fell into a large puddle of mud. Through the rain, Roxas could hear Axel roaring with laughter. Fine you wanna play? Bring it on!

He scooped up a handful of mud and launched it at the red head. Well mud head as he now looked. As Roxas watched Axel scoop muck from his head, he dived, catching Axel around the waist, making them both fall into a puddle of mud.

Unaware, both boys were being watched from across the street. Demyx stood at his window. He saw Axel and Roxas touching each other and it made his blood boil. He could kill Axel. But he wouldn’t for Roxas’s sake. He Didn’t want to seem like the jealous boyfriend. He returned to his desk where he turned on his computer and focused on taking his mind off of Roxas.

Inside the Strife household, Cloud and Tifa were at each other’s throats once again. She wanted to know where Cloud was going and he replied over and over again, “To play basketball with Leon!”

They were unaware of the two boys wrestling in the front garden. They both stopped and laughed. They got to their feet and ran to the garage, slipping in under the door before closing it quickly after them. They laughed until it hurt, the tears streaming from their eyes. The dryer had just finished a load so the garage was warm, a haven for the soaked, shivering teens.

The heard a door slam from inside the house. The figured Cloud had left to see his mistress, when a though came to mind.

“Rox?” Axel asked, trying to sound serious.

“Mmm?”

“We should follow your dad.”

Roxas stopped laughing but he still shivered slightly.

“What? Why?” Roxas knew why but he wasn’t sure if Axel or Demyx would pretend they hadn’t heard his father on the phone.

“Don’t you want to know?”

They heard the car start outside the garage. It sat for a few moments, Cloud obviously trying to calm down.

“…Yeah! Bike!”

Axel grabbed Sora’s bike, Roxas his own and they waited until they heard Cloud slowly backing out of the driveway. They heard him slowly drive off, trying not to go to fast and out of control because of his anger. The two boys slid under the door with the bikes. They saw him up ahead and took off after the rear lights of his car. They were lucky it was raining so hard. He turned out and drove on slowly, struggling to see. In a matter of moments the boys were soaked to the skin, teeth chattering and hands frozen to the handlebars. Luckily Clouds “mistress” lived close by and the boys were thankful to be able to hide in the shade of the side of a house.
   Roxas froze. He knew this neighbourhood. He came here once a month to stay with Sora.  But no. Cloud was only coming here to ask for advice about his wife he couldn’t be…

“Oh my God…” Axel whispered beside him. He obviously knew who lived in the grand house that cloud was pulling into. They watched him jump out of his car and walk towards the door, not caring if he got wet. He undid his tie as he walked and few buttons of his shirt. He looked around cautiously before sliding into the house. Roxas and Axel stood staring at the house mouths gaping wide. An ice cold sheet of rain swept over them, bringing them to their senses. The cycled off and didn’t speak until they were in the sanctuary that was Roxas’s bedroom.
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