OHSHI- an actual update and not new stuff!

I've spent a lot of time in thought over this fic, though, and in the end, I decided that, for the greater good, this story shall end at ten chapters and one filler. I'm no longer as interested in this story and i'm not having as much fun with it as I am with my newer endeavors. So... In other words... the next chapter of Special Discount shall be the last one. Thank you, everyone, for all your reviews, for all of your nagging for me to update... you know who you are. xD It's been half a year, and I'm sure some of you aren't pleased with me cutting this fic short, but... it's for the best. So now, I bring you... a very, very overdue chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter Nine

"Too Much Talk, Not Enough Sex"

Roxas woke up to the sounds of Broadway being played somewhere not too far off. He heard Seifer and Hayner singing along softly, sometimes off-key. He felt a throb in his head.

He woke up to the jostles and bumps of a car going down a highway. He woke up with a dry taste in his mouth and a buzzing in his ear. He woke up to a bright ray of sunlight pressing down on his forehead. He woke up to the smell of cologne and the inside of Seifer's car. He woke up with his head in someone's lap and a hand brushing gently through his hair.

Roxas woke up to comfort and a dull hangover. And after a few minutes of brushing away the daze of sleep and registering a faint, familiar voice speaking just above his ear, the blond also realized that it was probably Axel who had woken him up with the soothing ministrations. Poking one eye cautiously open, Roxas gulped once or twice to clear the discomfort all over the inside of his mouth to scrape together a sentence in the form of a croak.

"Where the hell am I?"

All quiet singing stopped. Roxas had broken the peaceful calm. Now daring enough to have both eyes open, Roxas lifted his head groggily to take in the fact that he was lying sideways along the backseat of the car. The landscape was blurred beyond the window and Seifer was, as usual, driving. Hayner was peering around the edge of the passenger seat, looking amused.

This meant that it was indeed Axel's lap in which Roxas's head was currently resting. Sure enough, familiar fingers were still threading through his blond spikes and as Roxas's eyes traveled upward, they met the half-shut, green-eyed gaze of the red-head. His awakening could not have been any more pleasant… and horrifying. His head was in Axel's lap. Axel's fingers were in his hair. Taking in the knowledge was hard enough without the incessant, nauseating, painful drone in his brain.

"Well, party animal, look who's awake." Axel chuckled, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at Roxas. "You're in a car that is currently heading back home."

"How long have I been sleeping?" Roxas asked tiredly, smacking away Axel's hand to sit up and look around blearily. "What state are we even in?"

Hayner spoke up from the front, "We're in Pennsylvania right now. About half-way home. You kinda woke up when we were checking out of the hotel but promptly passed out on top of Axel once we got into the car. It's your own fault, man."

Roxas bit his lip as he scrambled dazedly back into his own respective seat. Axel didn't protest, simply leaning against the window and watching the blond. Thinking back, Roxas did vaguely recall stumbling out of the hotel room, someone helping him on the way. He also remembered the elevator ride, as well as falling into the car. However, everything else was blank.

The blond realized that to have forgotten so much, he must have been very drunk. Ridiculously so.

"Um." Roxas ran a few numb fingers through his hair, a movement reminiscent of what Axel had been doing only moments before. He didn't want to focus on the redhead. Not yet. He needed to focus on getting his melted brain together first. And remembering just what exactly had happened the night before after his god-knows-which bottle of beer. "What… did I do?"

"While you were stone drunk, you mean?" Seifer snickered from the driver's seat, keeping his eyes on the road.

Hayner's response was a little more enlightening. "No idea. Axel was with you almost the entire time, actually."

Axel grinned slightly, guilty as charged, as Roxas turned expectantly and almost hesitantly towards him. The red-head cleared his throat, eyeing Roxas's look of fearful expectation, and shrugged. "You didn't do anything stupid, don't worry about it."

"You swear?"

"Would I lie to you?" Axel's eyes widened, looking hurt,"I just made sure you didn't drown in the hot tub. What do you think you did? Make out? Had a deep discussion about our relationship? Exchanged marriage vows, perhaps?"

"I wouldn't put it past you two…" Hayner muttered in the front, but Roxas pointedly ignored his cousin and glowered at Axel instead, even if it hurt to furrow his brow with the monster of a headache he still had.

"You could have taken advantage of me! It could have been rape!"

Axel's eyebrows lifted in surprise, "That hurts, Roxas. I assure you, the next time I come on to you, I'll be sure to make you very willing to participate."

"Can't rape the willing!" Seifer added in a sing-song voice.

Roxas glanced from Seifer's pleased smirk, to Hayner's held-back smile, then ended up on Axel's surprisingly fond grin. He couldn't win. With a scowl, he dug out his mp3 player and curled into the seat as much as possible, resolutely turning his gaze to the countryside sweeping past the window, releasing a deep breath. He didn't have any energy or patience to deal with the consequences of the night before. He hadn't missed the strange look on Axel's face when he had asked what had happened while he had been completely inebriated, but he didn't want to delve too deeply into its meaning just yet.

"You all suck."

They had at least three to four hours left before they made it home. As silence fell again, Hayner turned up the music, leaving Roxas to sulk and deal with his hangover as the rest of them returned to what they had been doing before the blond had graced them with his conscious self. Even Axel found something to do; he had stolen Seifer's Nintendo DS and was re-introducing himself to the world of Pokemon.

Unfortunately, now that the blond had been left to himself and his delightful throbbing headache, he was also left with a lack of distractions and that allowed his mind to wander.

His thoughts, after failing to fully concentrate on the scenery sweeping by him, eventually settled on the past three or so weeks of his life. Roxas could hardly believe it had only been that long. It felt like forever since he had met Axel in Seven-Eleven and had been graced with a hand job while covered in sweet, sticky slurpee. What had happened afterward? Roxas fought off the buzz in his brain, even turning his ipod off to concentrate better.

After that had been a week of agony and turmoil after his initial meeting with Axel. He had ranted, raved, suffered from wet dreams, then ended up complaining to Sora at his second job, only to shortly encounter the red-head at the pool and… Roxas frowned. Only to get another hand job which resulted in getting a ride home to Axel's house. That was about when things had started to go downhill. He had found out about the bet, as well as Reno and the rest of Axel's ridiculous friends.

Roxas didn't even want to ruminate on the bet and the way Axel had been sent to his particular Seven-Eleven only to get into his pants, despite Axel's pleas that he had a nobler cause. It had been bad enough just finding out about it and losing some of his trust in the red-head. Leaning his head against the car window, the blond sighed and pursed his lips. What next?

Easy, Axel had driven him home on his precious Ninja, but had then proceeded to barge in and stay the night instead. The next morning, Roxas had suggested the idea of the older man accompanying him to Otakon and that had ended up with a bit of explanation on Axel's part and… Roxas suddenly flushed. More molestation, of course.

Another quick week of summer had passed then, with Roxas hurriedly preparing costumes for himself and Axel with the help of Sora and Riku while simultaneously balancing summer school work and both of his jobs.

This brought him right back to the eventful three days of Otakon. The first had been Axel as Sailor Moon and himself as Tuxedo Mask. That had been amusing. Roxas even smiled to himself in recollection. The original intent of dragging Axel to Otakon had been to punish him for his disastrous actions at Seven-Eleven, but the trip had turned into something more of an adventure. The red-head had been shoved forcefully into the world of otaku and, to Roxas's surprise, ended up fitting in quite well.

And, although Roxas would never admit it, Axel had certainly proved he had the legs and hips for a Sailor Moon cosplay. The blond had had trouble keeping a straight face, yes, but the lanky man definitely still had something going for him with an outfit like that.

After that had been the rave.

Roxas swallowed nervously at that memory and hurriedly moved on. He didn't need to recall that event. It had been burned into his memory well enough.

Day two of Otakon had been even worse, though. Every single day with Axel seemed to increase the sexual tension and confusion between them. Roxas deeply regretted allowing Sora and Riku to convince him to borrow their Naruto and Sasuke cosplays. He also hadn't been too happy with Axel warming up to the idea of fanservice.

What had that ended with?

Roxas almost groaned aloud. Of course, how could he have forgotten? The talk. The discussion, the love confession. And he had agreed to go out with Axel. God, I must have drunk a whole fucking barrel of vodka to forget something like that.

The next day was the worst, though. The third day of Otakon would probably always sit in his mind as one of the best and worst days of his life. The frenzy in the Dealer's Room had been good. He had also spent a reasonable amount of time just walking around with Axel, instead of allowing the man to continually make passes at him. However, in retrospect, he had also blatantly chosen to ignore their previous night's discussion about love, which resulted in him drinking his troubled mind away.

And that was all he remembered. The rest of the night before was completely blank. He would really have to ask Axel later, in private, about what had happened. Axel's expression had been purposely vacant when he had spoken about Roxas's drunken night. In any other case, the red-head would have probably grinned and cracked a dirty joke of some sort, but instead, he had been uncharacteristically quiet and simple in his answer.

In any case, Roxas's musings had brought him back to the present time, where he now sat curled up in the corner of the back seat in Seifer's car, headphones covering his ears while his ipod lay silent. Axel was still engrossed in his DS and Hayner and Seifer were obviously not going to stop singing along to RENT tunes any time soon.

They're giving me space. To think. Roxas realized this with a start, glancing around at his friends again. Despite their obvious distractions, the couple up front still occasionally glanced back at him to make sure he was alright. And Axel continuously looked up from his game to just stare at the blond, appearing like he wanted to say something but, at the last second, deciding against it and looking away once more.

Taking in a shaky breath, the blond sighed and relaxed, uncurling and sitting up in his seat as he shoved his mp3 player back into his bag. "So. Who wants to play license plates?"

Hayner grinned, peering around his seat, "There's the Roxas we all know and love. Feeling better?"

"Much, thanks." Roxas grinned slightly, accepting the bottle of water Hayner offered and taking a sip to clear his throat.

"So what's this about license plates?" Axel snapped the DS shut and casually tugged the blond towards himself, draping his arm around his shoulders. Roxas didn't protest. "Are we doing it by alphabet or what?"

The blond glanced up at the older man to see an easy smile on his face. He seemed to be back to normal. Almost. "If that's what you want."

Seifer spoke up from the driver's seat, oblivious to the staring contest Axel and Roxas were in. "Alright, alphabet it is. Arkansas…"

The start of the game went unheeded to the pair. Axel dropped his voice to a low murmur. "How's the hangover?"

"Better." Roxas whispered in reply, leaning his head gently against the red-head's shoulder in hopes that the silent action would make an impression on the man. Axel only grinned.

"Good. Then, uh… can I stay at your house tonight?"

Roxas jerked abruptly out of Axel's hold, warmth gone. "What?!"

"Oh, oh, Colorado! Called it!"

The rest of the trip played out in exactly four hours and forty-three minutes, thanks to traffic. Axel knew, because he counted down every single minute in earnest. The license plate game had grown old dramatically fast, leaving the group to fend for themselves against boredom. Axel had picked up the DS again and Roxas ended up falling asleep on him, head slumped on his shoulder.

Axel hadn't minded, of course. Or, he mostly hadn't minded. The presence of the blond was troublesome for him. The fact that Roxas had forgotten his drunken tirade was a relief, of course, but when it also became obvious that the blond couldn't recall anything, Axel realized that he wasn't exactly willing to explain to the teen that he had ended up crawling into his lap and confessing about his uncertainty in his love for the red-head.

Axel had confessed to him. In any other situation, that would at least set some things in place, but it had apparently only confused Roxas even more. Getting someone into bed with him had never been more difficult, especially since the red-head was still trying his best to maintain his sincere feelings for the boy to convince him that he didn't see Roxas just as another notch on his bedpost.

And now the boy was sleeping on him. Again. Axel sighed, idly capturing a wild Pidgey as he contemplated his situation. Reno had called him in the beginning of the trip to inform him that there had been a gas leak in their house the day before and now, he couldn't return home. Roxas had agreed to let him stay at his own place, but not without a good deal of protest, of course. It wouldn't be Roxas if he didn't add more tension between them.

But what of their floundering relationship? Hadn't Roxas agreed to go out with him? Axel had no idea where they stood now, but he hoped that some things could be cleared up later, at the blond's house. That was the plan, at least. He needed the blond to stop being so damn indecisive.

After what felt like an endless drive, Seifer finally pulled into the Mitsu household driveway. Ten minutes afterward, Seifer pulled out of the Mitsu household driveway, leaving Axel and Roxas alone on the pavement.

"They're not coming with us?"

"No." Roxas yawned sleepily, grabbing his bag and hauling it into the house. "He's going back to my Uncle's place. That's Hayner's house, after all."

Axel silently followed after the blond, slinging his own backpack over his shoulder. Roxas glanced at him as he led the way up to his room. "I'm gonna go take a shower, you, uh… make yourself at home, I guess." The blond waved absently at his room, then promptly stumbled off. Axel blinked, surprised that Roxas had suddenly decided to trust him in such a private area like his room, but he wasn't about to complain about it.

At least now, he finally had a chance to peek into Roxas's life.

Hayner and Seifer hadn't been exaggerating when they had described the room to be crammed full of "figurines, manga, dolls, and stuffed toys." It was quite… unbelievable. Axel turned in place, gaping. All four sides of the room had not been neglected in the least; there were hardly any blank spots on the walls. The side with the door boasted a mirror, two posters, and an immense wall scroll. The next wall had the closet, as well as a single shelf completely overflowing with books and knick-knacks. He even recognized some; one near the top was definitely Sailor Moon.

Next came the side with Roxas's bed, a window, and a computer table. Even here, plushies and figurines were scattered around. Then came… the wall. Here, a table and two more shelves were packed with a mind-boggling amount of anime loot. Axel hesitantly approached it, then noticed a large collection of things that were tastefully hidden behind a translucent scarf decorated with Japanese kanji. Curious, the red-head pulled the cover aside.

He had hit the mother load. He needed to only glance at one of the titles of the multiple DVD's and books to see that it was Roxas's form of the average male's set of porn magazines. "Dear god…"

In the complete silence of the room, Axel tugged out a few of the DVDs. Two were obviously hentai, a phrase Seifer had gleefully taught him. At least, if the half-naked, huge-chested girls on the front of the covers meant anything. The last movie, however, was obviously not the typical animated, heterosexual porn. Axel grinned excitedly, smoothing his fingers over the DVD case. There were two feminine looking males standing too close to each other to be considered straight. The title was what caught Axel's attention best, though.

"Sensitive Pornograph." He chuckled, setting the movies back and deciding to shuffle through the boy's stash of pornographic manga instead. "And you call me a pervert. Shit, Roxas, you're worse than I am."

Roxas slowly made his way back to his room after a refreshing twenty minute shower. It had worked wonders, now that he had scrubbed away everything from the night before and cleared his mind. He felt better. He always did after long, hot showers. It had actually felt like longer then twenty minutes, though, by the way it had grown dark outside.

The day's passed so quickly… He passed the staircase that led down to the first floor, where Roxas could actually see Axel's bags, which he had dumped by the couch in the living room. Hell, not even today. These past three days… three weeks have passed quickly.

As he steadily walked along the long carpeted corridor, however, he faltered. He had also regained most of his sensibility and common sense during his appointment with the bathtub, and he quickly came to the painful realization that he had just left Axel, of all people, alone. In his room. His room that few people ever saw, apart from Seifer, Hayner, Riku, Naminè, and Sora.

His breath caught in his throat. Many people often said that someone's room was an insight into the person's private life. And for Roxas, that was very applicable. He knew what his living area was like; covered in anime, manga, and other otaku-like memorabilia. It was very personal. Although, knowing Axel…

"My yaoi." Roxas murmured with a distressed whisper, speeding up his walk. Of course, the perverted older man would be instantly attracted to the risqué items. It was only natural; the man was like a magnet for stuff like that. Sure enough, as soon as the blond stormed into the room, clad only in a pair of pants and a towel about his neck, he found Axel sprawled across his bed, nose buried in a book.

"I should have known you would sniff out my yaoi. Pervert." Roxas scowled, shutting the door behind him as he gave the red-head a glower. Axel looked up from I Want to be Naughty… and waggled his fingers in a teasing greeting, a smirk stretching out his lips.

"Yeah, I'm such a pervert, reading your books, Roxas. It's terrible of me." He sniggered, watching as the boy, flushing, stomped across the room to sit at his computer table. Axel was surprised that Roxas hadn't even attempted to snatch the book back, "What, you're not going to make me stop reading? Yell at me for snooping?"

"What's the point?" The blond murmured, turning on his PC, "My attempts to stop you from doing things before hasn't worked, I can't imagine why it would now."

Axel fell silent at that and, with a sigh, turned back to the book as Roxas booted up his internet. For a while, they sat in comfortable silence, Axel reading the cartoon-like gay comic while the blond busied himself in checking cosplay sights for pictures of himself and Axel. It would have been a fairly easy way to relax, except…

Ask him. Ask him.

Roxas pursed his lips, finding a picture of Axel as Sasuke just managed sneak a hand into Naruto/Roxas's shirt.

What could you possibly have done last night that's made Axel so quiet and thoughtful?

He found himself staring at the screen without actually seeing, too caught up in his thoughts.

What could I have possibly done that made Axel looked so painfully blank when I asked?

Finally, the nagging feeling in his gut got the better of him and he turned his swivel chair around to face the man on his bed. Axel didn't notice. Roxas spent the next fifteen seconds with his mouth opening and closing, wondering what to say, then eventually just sighed and dug an anxious hand into his hair. "So, uh, what exactly happened last night?"

"When you were drunk, you mean?" Axel snapped the manga shut, having just finished it. "I thought you would never ask."

Roxas released another soft sigh, fearing the worst. "Look, I know I get weird when I'm drunk-"

"It wasn't anything tragic, blondie." The red-head chuckled, then continued, knowing that Roxas wouldn't stop pestering him until he told him everything. So Axel decided to be blunt with it. "You insisted that we go up to the hotel's hot tub. I, unlike certain people whose name I won't mention, can actually hold my liquor, so I made sure you didn't drown. Then you crawled into my lap, apologized for 'sucking so much' and how you decided to pointedly ignore our previous night's conversation about going out. And then…"

Roxas raised an eyebrow as Axel faltered, "And then?"

"Then you decided to confess that you weren't sure if you loved me. And passed out shortly afterwards." Axel finished with a nonchalant shrug, sliding off the bed and moving to set the book he had been reading on the shelf while Roxas stared at him in shock. He determinedly didn't meet his gaze.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"I am such an idiot sometimes." Roxas whispered to himself, carding his hand even deeper into his spikes while the other man calmly returned to sit on the bed. "I'm sorry."

"Why apologize? It's not like you were lying." Axel replied evenly, relaxing on Roxas's bed again with a new book on his hand. He promptly flicked it open and began to read, allowing the blond some time to get his thoughts together. In all honestly, the red-head was torn. It had been so easy and clear-cut before. Roxas was cute, amusing, stubborn, and made the most delicious moaning noises when Axel stuck his hand down his pants. He liked him. And, as it turned out, he liked him a lot. That was that. No problems, just attraction.

But once Roxas had unearthed the bet behind their entire meeting, things had begun spiraling downward. And the added weight of love only complicated things. What had once been a mere whim of Axel's to meet and woo the blond had turned into a drama fest.

The red-head's lip curled slightly. As much as he respected Roxas, it was obvious that most of the drama was coming from the small, emotional blond. He just couldn't accept the situation. And, Axel blinked, from someone who read books that involved men falling in love with male mermaids, that was unbelievable. They had almost gotten through it, too, once they had spoken back in the hotel. But then Roxas had freaked out again and ruined everything. It was as if the boy lived to make things difficult.

When Roxas failed to say anything, Axel flicked the pages to a racy sex scene and lifted it up for the other boy to see. "We should try this position. If your bathtub is big enough."

Before Roxas could help himself, his old habits took over and he was standing up to storm over to Axel, "Give me that! You shouldn't read stuff like that!"

Axel allowed the blond a little reprieve from their serious discussion by acting like a bother again, as Roxas was used to. He smiled innocently, holding Selfish Mr. Mermaid out of his reach, "You shouldn't either! This is strictly for people with dirty minds! Shame on you!"

"It-" Roxas grunted, leaning over Axel as he tried to snatch back the book, arms flailing, "It was a present!"

The red-head laughed, playfully smacking Roxas's hand with the book, then moving it away again, "From who? Your kindly uncle?"

A series of angry and rather uncouth words spilled from the younger boy's mouth as he continued to grapple with Axel. However, he seemed to have forgotten just quite who he had to deal with and before he knew it, a lanky arm was pulling him down onto the bed into the thin chest of an annoying red-head. Just as an extra laugh, Axel tossed the book onto the floor, leaving Roxas sprawled on top of him, looking furious. It was always much too easy to tease the smaller boy. His temper was such a weakness.

"For your information, it was a present from Naminè." Roxas muttered and then attempted to slide off Axel, only to find that the red-head had already found the time to tuck his other arm about his waist, pinning him there. To his surprise, Axel was no longer smiling, but regarding him with a contemplative air. "W-what?"

Axel proceeded to say the four dreaded words that Roxas did not want to hear.

"We need to talk."

Roxas drew in a shuddering breath, curling his arms up beneath his chin. He didn't want to talk. He didn't want to discuss his feelings. Then again, at one point, he hadn't wanted Axel's attention and his arms around his waist, but he was allowing it now.

"You can't run away from this forever, as much as you want to. If you want this to be simple, then you have to tell me what you want." Axel said with a pout, seeing the mixed expressions on Roxas's face; hesitation, pain, discomfort, confusion.

Roxas groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I don't want to talk about this."

"I'm not letting you go until we get something out of this mess, Rox. Enough is enough. What do you want?"

"I don't know what I want anymore." Roxas began slowly, resigning himself to his fate. Axel was right. He couldn't run from it anymore. Especially now that the other man had cornered him, so to speak. "I thought I did, before. Before, it had been easy. I wanted to get rid of you. I didn't know who you were, and you weren't like anyone I had ever met before."

"Do you still feel like that? Like you want to get rid of me?"

Roxas raised his head, "Hmph. What do you think?"

"I would hope not." Axel grinned slightly.

"The week after I met you was ridiculous. I thought, damn, was that just sexual harassment? It couldn't be. There was no way I would have enjoyed something like that so much if it was sexual harassment. I almost wanted to meet you again and just find out what the hell your deal was. And then when I did, I was torn. I didn't know what I was doing, running after a guy who I had just randomly met in the middle of the night and… well, yeah."

At Axel's chuckles, the blond continued, "If you can't tell, I've thought a lot about this."

"Oh, I've noticed." The red-head idly rubbed at the skin just above the boy's hips.

"But now, now that I've found that I actually like having you around, that you can turn me into freaking piles of helpless goo, and that you've actually taken a step further to say that you love me…" The blond let his head sink back down again. "I just don't know."

Axel released such a heavy sigh that it made Roxas's hair flutter faintly. "I can't believe that after all this damn time, you still don't know what you want, Roxas."

Without warning, the red-head sat up, pulling the smaller boy up with him. Roxas's arms fell as he found himself seated now in Axel's lap. In the darkened room, Axel eyed the distressed look on the boy's face that was only faintly lit with the glow from the nearby computer monitor. "You can't expect me to believe that."

"But I really-"

"I've already put what we have in simple terms. You can either accept this or just forget about it." Axel leaned forward to feather his lips over the blond's forehead, "I don't like waiting."

Roxas remained silent, shivering as Axel continued to speak.

"I know we met under unorthodox ways. I know that being with a guy isn't exactly normal for you, either. Hell, everything about this is fucked up. I know." The red-head rested his chin briefly on Roxas's shoulder, curling his arms even tighter about the boy's waist, "But I've been sincere since the start. I went to that damn Seven-Eleven to finally meet you, to win you over, because I've always had my eye on you. It may not have been particularly romantic, but I've been trying my best to prove to you that you mean a lot more to me than you think."

"I know that. I know." Roxas breathed out, biting his lip as he listened to Axel. "I'm not questioning you anymore. It's me. I just…"

With a soft rustle of clothes, Axel moved his head to start planting light kisses on Roxas's neck. "You don't know. There's something holding you back."

Bingo. The blond swallowed. He didn't fear Axel hurting him. It wasn't an issue of insecurity or age or even gender at this point. Roxas had already forgiven him for the slurpee incident and accepted Axel's initial greeting at his job. He enjoyed the red-head's touch, welcomed his touches, thrived in his presence.

But while Axel loved him, did Roxas love him back?

…. There was the problem. The guilt. The one thing that had been nagging at him the entire three weeks. What did the red-head mean to him, exactly? And until he figured it out, his mind wouldn't rest. The fact that it was such a cheesy, stupid, idiotic, romantic, girly reason only made matters worse.

Roxas remained still as he felt lips warm his skin, then shuddered and smiled weakly, "I'm not good at this serious talk."

"I'm just trying to help." Even Axel managed to relax slightly, feeling some of the stiffness leave Roxas's body. He scooted up to start kissing the blond's ear, then his cheek. When he finally hovered mere hair's widths away from Roxas's lips, though, he paused.

"Kiss me." He whispered. If he couldn't talk Roxas into it, he would do it physically. To his surprise, Roxas hesitated, and then promptly pushed him away.

"I can't. Just… stop. Please."

Axel's voice grew somber and he released the smaller boy from his grasp, "So this is your answer. Now that we've finally gotten down to this being serious, now that this isn't just a handjob there, a blowjob there, now that I actually want to be with you, you've gotten scared and don't even have the guts to tell me to go to hell. It's simple, Roxas! Do you want me or not? Yes or no?"

How could Roxas just answer that? Yes, he wanted Axel. Yes, he wanted to have the red-head touch him and kiss him again. But not while Axel loved him and Roxas didn't. "I… I don't… yes, but I can't-"

Roxas's soft pleas of disagreement fell on angry ears. Axel had had enough. His patience was gone. The blond was driving him insane. He wanted him, he needed Roxas at this point, and yet the idiot was so stubborn, naïve, and indecisive that his libido was going to shrivel up. Gently, he pushed Roxas off of himself and stood,

"Fine. I'm gonna go sleep on the couch."

In a matter of seconds, Axel had stormed out of the room and Roxas was left to stare at the closed door in his dark room, shocked to the core, alone to think about what he wanted.

Axel, scowling and looking ruffled, irritably unfolded the couch in Roxas's living room, tugging out the blankets he had used last time. Mickey had briefly wandered in with a cautious mewl, but seeing the red-head's furious face, he had just was quickly scampered away.

Why is he doing this? Can't he just see that I love him? What the hell is his problem?

Roxas punched his pillow angrily, trying his best to bring his thoughts together.

Why am I making this so difficult? Axel's right, the answer's right there, I just need to decide. Do I want Axel? Or not?

Axel tugged his shirt and pants off, settling into the make-shift bed he had made. It wasn't his fault that he hadn't gotten laid in ages, and that when he was denied the sex he wanted by a blond moron who couldn't make a decision to save his life, Axel got grumpy. Love was so troublesome. He couldn't even just go out and get sex, he only wanted Roxas. Who was being difficult.

I love him. I can't believe I fucking love him. He's a complete idiot. So blond. He's always so inflexible, pushing me away, being a prick, when I know he always liked the attention I gave him. God, he makes me so horny…

Roxas threw his damp towel into the corner of his room, letting out a growl of frustration.

He's so fucking stupid! Loving me… why the hell did he have to go and say that? He's so immature and needy! This whole time, he's just been wanting to take my pants off, and now he expects me to just date him like any regular couple? Like hell! Just because he can always actually get his damn way with me… just because he's so irresistible…

"Idiot…" Axel murmured, throwing his arm over his eyes.

And yet Roxas is my blond. He's my stubborn idiot. I may have always dominated him, but he was just letting me do that. He's stronger than he looks. And I can never control myself around him. I can't just… I love him.

"Jerk…" Roxas stood and began pacing his room, noting that it was just past 8:00 PM.

But I can never resist him. He's always so stupid, but he's always been there for me. He's perverted, but gentle…

The blond found himself thinking back on Axel as he absently picked at the waistband of his pants. How the red-head had actually agreed to go to Otakon, how he had driven him home from work, how he had looked after him while the blond had been drunk. Axel had been the one to throw him the occasional warm glance when he thought Roxas wasn't looking. Axel had been the one to faithfully accept him for what he was, otaku-dom and all. He had been the first one to suggest something more, to assert that he didn't see Roxas just as a one-night stand.

Axel had been the one who had set his skin on fire, who had planted soft tender kisses along his neck, who had…

Before he knew it, Roxas was running his hands through his hair again and cursing himself softly. "God, I'm such an overdramatic uke."

Axel had already dozed off by the time Roxas had settled his thoughts. It was completely dark in the living room and, unlike the blond, he hadn't slept on the ride home and the mental exhaustion hit home after he tiredly decided that he would leave the next morning as soon as he woke up, thinking that giving Roxas some space would be a good idea. He wasn't in the mood to force himself on the blond, anyway. Not while the idiot didn't know what he wanted; he wanted Roxas to want him back. It had been alright before, just teasing him about it, but love had made him quite selfish and greedy. He wasn't afraid to admit it.

I'm a bastard.

That had been his last thought before sleep overtook him.

And his first thought, shortly afterward, was "Why is a shirtless Roxas getting under the blankets with me?"

Roxas had resolutely tip-toed down the stairs to the living room after he had decided that, yes, he wanted Axel and yes, he was falling for the jerk-off, and yes, he was going to go fix the problem now while he was still firm on the idea.

He made his way around the dark room with ease, having traveled down before when he had been sneaking into the kitchen for a midnight snack. In the faint moonlight, he made out the long lump on the unfolding couch; Axel. Taking a deep breath, Roxas silently watched Axel's chest rise and fall a moment before letting emotions take over. Before he knew what he was doing, his body was moving and sliding underneath the single blanket Axel had covered himself with.

The hush in the room was practically deafening. The crackles the blanket made and the groans of the couch as it took on Roxas's weight felt ten times louder in the blond's ear. That feeling doubled when Roxas had finally reached Axel and lay down next to him, because as soon as he had settled down with a sigh, the red-head's eyes slid open slowly, the jade of his irises glowing, even in the dark.

The two stared at each other in the silence, Axel looking confused at first. Roxas watched, though, as comprehension dawned in his green orbs. Roxas didn't dare to break the quiet lull of the room, and Axel seemed to understand.

Have you changed your mind? He asked wordlessly, a barely-there smile gracing his lips. In answer, Roxas leaned in and shyly spread a warm hand over Axel's cheek, staring at him. Axel could only breathe, taking in the sight of the blond laying across from him, his heart in his eyes. He had come to him.

"God, finally." Axel finally whispered, shattering the silence, as well as the moment. He reached out a slender hand and tucked it around the back of Roxas's head as he rolled over onto the blond, tucking his legs around the boy's waist while using his free hand to keep himself up as he dipped down to crush his lips into Roxas's.

It had been ages. Or, at least, it felt like ages, since they had last done anything. The rave at Otakon. That had been three days ago, but who was counting?

Roxas joined in the kiss eagerly, eyes flickering shut as he curled his arms around Axel's shoulders to pull him closer. Their lips slid softly against each other, making quiet smacking and sucking noises as Axel pushed in deeper, opening his mouth to allow his tongue to slide along the seam of his blond's lips. As they occasionally parted to readjust their angle, Axel murmured, "I love you" repeatedly, making goosebumps stand up on Roxas's skin at the husky tone the red-head spoke in.

While concentrating on breathing through his nose, Roxas shivered, thanking fate for allowing both himself and Axel to be shirtless. He could feel the red-head's body heat on his skin and it was a comforting feeling. He moaned slightly as he felt Axel's heated tongue explore his mouth, sliding and probing. At the same time, the older man's hand gently tugged at his hair, sending small sparks of dulled pain along his skull that Roxas actually welcomed. The blond had a lot of sexual tension to get rid of, especially after such a long, strenuous day, as well as three days of dealing with the horny Axel.

Finally, Roxas could just give in, like he almost had back at the rave. Except now the two of them were alone. Very much so.

Roxas gasped sharply as Axel nibbled on his bottom lip, dragging him back to reality. His eyes glittered mischievously before he moved on to leave wet kisses along Roxas's jawbone, finally reaching the blond's sensitive ear, which he mercilessly attacked with bites and licks, abusing the skin. Roxas jerked his hips briefly, growing hot. He moaned, drawing out a chuckle from Axel.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this…" The red-head put all his weight onto one arm and used the other to slide a hand down Roxas's chest to play with a nipple as he broke the silence.

"Nn…" Roxas whined out, eyes already glazed snapping out. "God… get on with it…"

Axel made a purring sound, grazing his teeth along the blond's neck, then licking his way back up. "I thought you liked foreplay."

Roxas meaningfully jerked his hips upward into Axel's, forcing friction between their obvious erections. "Haven't we had enough foreplay already from these, ah, past few days?"

Making a thoughtful noise, Axel hummed in agreement, pushing the blond back into a heated kiss. Roxas peeked his tongue out this time, engaging in a grappling session with the red-head's own wet muscle. Just as quickly, though, Axel pulled away and took his kisses south, sliding his lips along Roxas's quivering chest to his bellybutton, which he nipped teasingly, then shifting even father down.

It was all going so slowly, so sensually. It was amazing, yes, but… Roxas tried to say something, anything to encourage the man onward, but it was unnecessary. Axel was eager enough himself, he needed no bidding.

His fingers carefully looped around the waistband of the blond's pajama pants, and with painstaking slowness, he pulled the garment down. Roxas groaned breathlessly at the sensation of cotton rubbing against his hardened cock. He gripped Axel's hair with one hand while the other clenched into the cover of the couch they were lying on. And then, everything went still. He could hear his own raspy breath, and just beyond his waist were the soft pantings of Axel. But what was he...

The blond suddenly blushed with a shiver. Axel had touched him in so many inappropriate ways before, and yet the way that the red-head was crouched over his cock with a look of desire was almost embarrassing. The feeling passed quickly enough, however, as Axel unabashedly leaned forward to gently take the moist tip of his erection into his mouth, giving it a soft suck. Roxas quietly cried out at the sensation, his grasp in Axel's hair tightening. "Oh g-god…" He stuttered, feeling like a virgin for reacting so strongly so soon.

Axel seemed to have approved, despite Roxas's awkwardness. He carefully pulled Roxas's legs over his shoulders and continued sucking at the organ, his long hair tickling the inside of the blond's thighs. Roxas felt the moment become almost surreal, but rational thought was already leaking out of his head and all he could manage was trying to keep his moans and whimpers down to a whimper.

When Axel picked up the pace, head bobbing up and down, Roxas's attempts weakened and shameless cries of pleasure began falling from his kiss-bruised lips. Determined to make the blond reach his peak, Axel hollowed out his lips and sucked harder, harder… until he was left with a quivering blond before him and a mouthful of cum in his mouth. Swallowing and swiping his tongue over his lips, Axel crawled back up Roxas's body, looking pleased while the blond himself lay back on the couch, trying to catch his breath.

"That's a little better than your typical yaoi, I think." Axel said huskily, licking his lips again. Roxas tried to suck in air but the sight of the sweaty red-head before him, as well as the orgasm, left him at a loss for words. Instead, he merely groaned and tugged the man into another kiss, moving his lips hard against Axel's. It was so much easier than attempting to make conversation. The red-head was obviously more than happy to comply, but as soon as he moved in closer to the younger boy, his own erection bumped innocently into Roxas's groin to remind him that they weren't done.

"Would you prefer me…" Roxas suddenly panted out, breaking off the lip-lock. "To beg and whimper for you to fuck me, or would you rather I do it forcefully?"

Axel blinked, then laughed, brushing away some sweat-dampened hair from Roxas's forehead, "Surprise me."

"Mm." Through half-shut eyes, the blond tugged the other man forward until his lips hovered just by his ear, and, in a lust-filled whisper, he dropped the two words Axel most wanted to hear.

"Fuck me."

And damn if the blond didn't manage to make the short sentence sound like the most erotic thing Axel had ever heard. "Gladly." he purred in response, his voice low and seductive.

Still slightly high from his first peak, but already getting hard just from the thought of what was about to happen next, Roxas helped Axel eagerly tug off the last article of clothing that separated them and they pounced on each other seconds afterward. Roxas tugged his arms back around the red-head's neck for leverage while Axel suddenly looked aghast.

"Lube."

"Nrgh?" Roxas made a questioning noise, not understanding at first. "What?"

"Lube! We need… oh god…" Axel sat up, the blond still clinging to him as he looked around. The heated atmosphere was dying quickly, which horrified the red-head even more. "I can't just take you dry, you would…"

"Lube? Why?" Roxas repeated, blinking back into a better thinking mode as he met Axel's worried look. "Oh. As in to…"

"Yeah. As in, so I can actually fuck you like you want me to without me making it unpleasant."

"Oh."

Roxas recalled dimly that his mother had always kept a bottle of hand lotion somewhere or other in the living room. Stumbling off of the couch and away from Axel's comforting body warmth with an unhappy grunt, he hobbled about the room a moment before finally reaching the small coffee table. He smoothed his hands over it, eyes darting about to catch a glimpse of the small bottle, but the table was bereft of anything. "Shit."

Axel appeared behind him, tucking his arms about the smaller boy's waist while nibbling thoughtfully on his ear. "Can't find it, huh?"

"No." Roxas looked in shock at the table, "Lotion's gone."

He suddenly gasped as Axel pressed his member against his back, but the red-head was still teasing. "Do you have anything else that could help us in this endeavor?"

"I think I might have some in room. C'mon." And, just like that, Roxas twisted around to grab Axel's hand and began dragging him up to his room. Axel almost laughed. The sight of the two of them, naked as the day they were born, and sporting raging hard-ons to boot, scurrying through a house in search of lube…

"Unbelievable." The red-head murmured under his breath, smiling at the leading blond fondly.

The best part was that even butt-naked and somewhat distressed, Roxas still looked adorable and delicious enough for Axel to at least have something to look at while he was being led upstairs.

As soon as they reached Roxas's room, the boy dove for his bedside table, rooting through the piles of junk he had stored there. Finally, with a cry of triumph, he pulled out a container of …

"Is that cotton-candy flavored lube?"

Roxas turned pink and scowled, "It was a gift from Naminè. More of a joke, really."

"This Naminè of yours must really love bringing out the gay in you." Axel grinned, taking the lube as he pushed the blond down onto the bed, where they had been arguing not too long ago.

"Ah… she, uh, she…." Roxas stuttered, trying to finish his sentence as Axel hungrily attacked his lips. He had to admit, the keen way the red-head was managed to open the bottle and squeeze some into his palm with only one hand was impressive.

"Yes?" Axel raised an eyebrow questioningly as he lathered the lotion over his fingers, then carefully began trailing the gooey mess along Roxas's body. The brief pause in the sex hadn't deprived them of anything, the two of them were already hot and bothered all over again.

"She…" Of course, how the hell did Axel expect Roxas to reply when the man was slipping a finger between his legs to probe at the tight ring of muscle hidden there? "Oh god."

"Fascinating." Axel breathed out, smiling gratefully as Roxas, hoping to urge the red-head on, pulled his own legs back up onto the older man's shoulders. Meanwhile, Axel busied himself with calmly pushing his finger inside the blond, feeling the tight heat close in around the digit.

Roxas gasped harshly, eyes bulging as he writhed under Axel's hand, the strange sensation sending hot shocks of electricity along his spine. Suddenly, everything he had ever read and watched from his hentai and yaoi sources made absolute perfect sense.

"Keep going…" He said desperately, and Axel complied without hesitation, adding a second finger while he continued to thrust in and out of the blond's hole, stretching the sensitive skin while getting the cotton-candy lube everywhere. Roxas only groaned, his back arching from the torture and pleasure. By the time a third finger had been added, the blond no longer formed full words, but was simply groaning and panting helplessly, a hand loosely stroking at his own erection.

Axel almost found himself moaning at the sight of the ravaged Roxas. He had imagined this scene so many times before, but the reality, as he had predicted, was so much better. The view of a sweat-covered, panting, groaning, wriggling, stroking Roxas was orgasmic. Suddenly, the fingers weren't enough for either of the boys. Axel pulled out with a slick squishing noise that Roxas whimpered at. He suddenly missed the feeling of penetration, but as he sat up, he was quickly entranced, watching Axel grab the pale blue lube and start slathering it onto his own cock.

"Hurry…" Roxas pushed his heels encouragingly into Axel's back, breathing heavily as he forced his eyes to stay open. "Oh god, put it in already."

For a split second, Axel toyed with the idea of asking the smaller boy if he was ready, but by the way that Roxas was staring at him with a look of impatience and lust and want… Axel decided against it, swallowing the built-up salivation and turning his attention back to the luscious task at hand. He brought the tip of his cock gently to the stretched entrance, rubbing slightly as Roxas quivered, then, without warning, Axel pushed in, feeling the tight muscles close around his member as, slowly, making sure that Roxas felt every inch, he sunk into the blond.

"Ahh!"

When he felt his whole length enveloped in firm heat, Roxas let out a long mewl, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling as he tried to relax. Axel murmured comforting words, forcing himself to keep still for the blond's sake, even though the rest of his tensed body was roaring for him to move with all haste. Still, the feeling of Roxas wrapped so closely around him and the sensation of being buried inside the blond were enough to make Axel's entire body shudder from pleasure.

Roxas scrambled to curl his hands around Axel's back as the man leaned over him, looking worried.

"You ok?" He whispered, hair hanging loosely about his face.

Roxas panted, "Fine. Just… go. Move. I can't sit still like this."

With a deep breath, Axel nodded, pressing his lips to Roxas's as he gently shifted his hips, pulling his cock out until just the tip still rested inside, then he slammed back in again. Roxas shook at the impact, but the moan that accompanied the quiver held pleasure in it. And, by the way that Roxas had sunk his fingernails into his bare back,

Axel could only assume that he had also hit the blond's prostate dead on.

Seeing no more reasons to wait, the red-head began an ascending rhythm, going faster and faster as he propped himself up, one arm by Roxas's head while his other hand descended to stroke the other to his peak. Their cries and moans mixed together until neither knew just who was making each noise. Axel had broken the kiss, needing breath to keep pounding into the blond, who was so lost in the excitement that he was mindlessly raking his nails down Axel's back, leaving red streaks.

Finally, their mingled pants and moans grew louder. Axel felt himself coming close to the edge.

"Axel!" Roxas choked out, stiffening as he came hard. Axel opened his eyes then, seeing the strained look of pleasure on the other man's face, which promptly triggered his own climax. Gasping out a garbled version of Roxas's name, he steadily collapsed onto the blond and the two lay in quiet, cooling off and catching their breath.

Roxas spoke first. "I can't believe it."

"What?" Axel squeezed Roxas's hip briefly in warning as he pulled out and then moved to lie down beside the blond. Roxas sighed shakily in response, but then, completely ignorant of the messy, sticky white substance that was splattered on both of them, he rolled over to curl into Axel's side.

"You. Me. Sex. Oh my god."

"Uh huh." Axel was too tired to even make fun of Roxas.

It hadn't been the most imaginative of sex, Axel had to admit. He could have taken the blond in a series of other more… creative ways, but it had been their first time. And it was good enough, for now. Maybe next time, he would actually take a scene from one of Roxas's silly mangas and play with that one instead. Maybe he'd even get his newly acquired yaoi paddle into play.

God, it had been messy and new, but still amazing. Axel's long record of no sex had finally been broken. The man could have come again just from happiness. He grinned. There had been way too much talking and not nearly enough sex before. But it had all worked out in the end, so Axel wasn't going to complain about it.

"So what was holding you back? Did you figure it out?" Axel abruptly murmured, pulling the worn out blond towards himself with a content sigh. Roxas only smiled sheepishly, cuddling into the lanky man.

"Yeah. It's out of the way now, obviously."

"What was it?"

Roxas shut his eyes sleepily, "Nothing important."

And for a moment, it seemed that Axel was about to just accept that answer and drift off to sleep. However, just as Roxas felt the world fade out to accept in slumber, he heard the red-head laugh faintly.

"I love you too. Dumbass."