It's Easier to Run

Roxas groaned softly; the sunlight was streaming in through an open window and disturbing his slumber. He looked around and noticed that he wasn't in his bed, but lying on the floor next to a still-slumbering redhead. The other's mouth was wide open and he was snoring softly, his nose occasionally twitching in his sleep. Roxas chuckled softly.

It was Saturday morning, and Axel and Roxas had decided that a sleepover would be fun, as long as the definition of 'sleepover' meant 'stay-up-until-five-AM-and-play-video-games-constantly'. Axel, despite his definition, had only made it to 3 AM and Roxas decided that playing Halo alone wouldn't be fun.

Roxas got up slowly and proceeded to the kitchen, grabbing the frozen waffles out of the freezer and pushing them into the toaster. He'd been spending most of his time here, leading to him and Axel going to the store so Roxas could buy food. This also led to an incident including eggs and Axel's hair which was never to be spoken of ever again, much to the younger's dismay. He waited as the first two pieces warmed, putting in another set once they were done.

He walked back out to the living room and stood over Axel. The blonde was searching his head for the best way to wake the other up, shoving certain thoughts from his mind as he finally settled on 'kicking' him awake. His foot rested on top of Axel's stomach and pushed lightly, snickering as he did so.

Feeling pressure on his body, Axel's eyes flew open and he slapped the foot away quickly. Once his eyesight straightened out, he noticed Roxas laughing above him. "Breakfast." The blonde got out between laughs.

"That wasn't funny, kid." Axel grumbled and pushed his blanket aside. The toaster made a dinging noise to signify it was done cooking.

"Nah, but you are when you sleep." Roxas's eyes were shining happily as he pulled Axel up, running into the kitchen and putting their breakfast on the table. The redhead lumbered to the linoleum covered area slowly, sitting down as waffles, butter, and syrup appeared before him. He was not a morning person.

Axel inhaled his breakfast and Roxas gave him one of his waffles. He wasn't used to eating in the morning, and munched on his waffle plain as Axel drowned the newly-acquired food in syrup.

"You'd never heard of frozen food before?" Roxas asked again. The trip to the supermarket had been entertaining to say the least, especially once the redhead realized that there was precooked food that only needed to be heated.

"Not really. My mom cooked every night, so we never had any of that when I grew up." Axel confirmed as he pushed the last of the waffle into his mouth. "Wasn't allowed to have frozen food. The preservatives are gonna kill me…?" He looked questioningly at the empty plate, as if accusing it of putting the 'murderous' preservatives there. He snorted softly and grabbed their plates, putting them in the sink and running water over them.

"So, we've got the whole day. Then I go home and take care of mom…" Roxas thought through their daily activities, tacking the last one on regretfully.

"But you said she took on a few more hours at work, so she's not there until ten or so." Axel contributed, sitting back down at the table and putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder. An idea came to him. "Hey, the snow's melted and it's kinda warm, wanna go to the Sunset Festival? They have laser tag and rides and lots of other stuff there."

Sunset was a small suburb of Twilight, and held a festival every year as a celebration of music, friends, and mostly the namesake of their town. Roxas had never gone before, so he nodded. "Sounds alright."

Axel looked at the clock and made a face "It's only eleven?" He groaned. "Eh, it's open now. Let's go get dressed." The boys got up and ran to Axel's bedroom, the long-legged redhead winning the race for the shower.

"My hair takes longer to dry!" He argued as he locked the door.

Roxas pouted and leaned against the wall next to the door with his clothes in his hands. "But you don't do anything with your hair for it to need to be dry!" He replied loudly and fiddled with the sleeve of his white shirt, tracing the black checkers stitched onto it. The water turned on as a reply and Roxas leaned his head against the wall to wait.

Ten minutes later, Axel emerged in black pants and a black shirt with a band logo Roxas had never heard of. "I don't exactly like having wet hair, though." He stated as the blonde got up and walked into the room Axel had just left. Without a word he pulled the blow dryer from under the sink before taking his shower, proceeding to dry his hair once he was done.

"Rox! You never take this long!" Axel shouted through the door.

Roxas opened the door before continuing to spike his hair. "Had to dry it, this gel doesn't stick as well when it's wet." He finished pushing it to one side and washed his hands of the sticky substance, noticing that Axel's hair had almost dried as well. Roxas had dressed in his two-toned pants of khaki and black, using the same high-necked black shirt as the first time he'd come to Axel's house with the partially checkered shirt he'd been fiddling with before to complete his outfit. He also wore two rings, black and white, with a checkered wristband.

"You have a thing for checkers, kid." The redhead commented. Roxas rolled his eyes as if to say 'like I haven't heard that one before' and dropped his old clothes off near a backpack.

"So, are we taking the bus there?" Roxas asked as he returned to the living room, watching Axel pick up their blankets and pillows from the floor.

"I don't have a car, so we're gonna have to unless you wanna walk." Axel picked up his house keys and wallet, shoving them into his pockets. "We'd also better get going before admission goes up to afternoon prices."

Roxas grabbed his cell phone before stating that he was ready and they got onto the nearest bus, riding for half an hour until they reached Sunset Hill, the center of the festival. Roxas looked about in wonder, having never been to a festival with this many people, before dragging an amused Axel toward the rides by the wrist.

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Axel laughed loudly as Roxas glared at him. "You knew I didn't want to be tipped upside down deliberately, but you did it anyways!" The blonde accused. They'd just gotten off the Zipper, a ride in which Axel and Roxas were strapped into a cage that could flipped and spun around. Roxas, terrified, had clung to Axel so tightly he was sure Roxas had bruised his ribcage.

"C'mon Rox, you're alright. I'll make it up to you." Axel pulled them into an ice cream line. He received the sight of spiked golden hair as protest. "Roxy…" He pleaded. No response.

Axel sighed loudly. "I won't flip you upside down or do anything you don't want on rides again, got it memorized?" He promised. Roxas faced forward, but still didn't say anything and only looked curiously at the blue ice cream he was sure he'd never had before in his life.

"Sea salt?" He responded questioningly when Axel ordered for him.

"It's good." Axel replied, taking the treats and giving one to Roxas. "You'll like it."

Roxas liked it a lot, and he started talking to Axel again.

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The two friends walked along near a man-made stream, enjoying the namesake of the town immensely. The orange was mixing perfectly with the bright yellow of the sun, which caused the clouds above them to be tinted a pink color that reminded Roxas of the carnations girls at school received on Valentine's Day.

Roxas smiled; today had been fun, even if Axel had tipped him upside down. They reached the end of the little pavilion and Axel leaned against the wall that kept children from falling over the steep cliff on the other side.

"Good festival?" Axel questioned, looking over at the blonde's happy expression. He only nodded as the wind blew through his spiked hair.

"Thanks for bringing me, Axel." The redhead was framed against the beautiful skyline when Roxas looked at him, the only inconsistency with the warm color scheme being his sparkling emerald eyes.

"Anytime, kid." He ruffled Roxas's hair, earning a disgruntled look from the 'kid'. Axel chuckled to himself and looked back toward the sunset.

The bright yellow orb had almost vanished when a voice broke the comfortable silence that had settled over the area. "Well, isn't this cute."

Both turned around, Roxas rigidly, to see another blonde and his entourage behind them. "Go away, Seifer." Roxas responded, subconsciously inching toward Axel. The action didn't go unnoticed by the redhead.

"I haven't done anything… Can't I watch the sunset?" Seifer spoke in a tone that was almost mocking. "You're not together, are you?" He sneered.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but Roxas doesn't want you here, so get lost." Axel stepped forward, angling himself between Seifer and Roxas.

"I'm crushed, Roxy. You got together with someone else?" Rai and Fuu stood behind Seifer, uncomfortable with the proceedings but unwilling to show it. Doing things like this in school was fine, nobody would ever think of crossing them. In public, however, there were more people that didn't know them, people that would object. They maintained their positions.

"Well I certainly wasn't together with you, if that's what you mean." Roxas stepped to the side again, this time putting himself beside Axel. "Why don't you go make out with Rai or something? It seems about par for you."

"I told you not to dis Seifer, y'know?" Rai shouted from behind his leader. Fuu only sighed at the male's idiocy, rolling her eyes before slapping him on the back of the head. "Quiet."

"Look here, Red." Seifer walked forward and placed his face inches from Axel's. "Roxas is mine. Back off."

Axel shoved the tall blonde, making him stumble back a couple of feet. "Roxas doesn't belong to anybody, he's his own man. And it's none of your business who he's going out with." He glared at Seifer with a look that could put mafia bosses to shame. "Now leave. He doesn't want you here."

Seifer glared at Roxas balefully, who returned the gaze with as much hatred as could ever exist in his body. The senior finally turned around and stalked away, muttering a "come on you idiots" to Rai and Fuu as he passed them. Once he was sure they were gone, Axel turned to Roxas and pointed a thumb in their direction while tilting his head sideways.

"Mind telling me what the hell that was all about?"

Roxas looked at the ground, biting his lip slightly. He was afraid that Axel would think he was disgusting, make him get mental help, go fight Seifer alone… "I'd rather not."

Axel sighed, a common reaction when he was around the blonde. "Roxas… is that why you freaked out when I called you Roxy the first time?"

Roxas leaned his forearms against the wall and looked out toward the now-fading sunset. What had been so beautiful and inspiring a few moments prior was now irritating; he'd rather be shrouded in the darkness that would swallow all of his emotions. "Yeah." He finally responded.

Axel sat against the wall, facing a memorial to something or another that incorporated the stream to make a fountain. "How long has he been forcing himself on you?" He asked, covering his face with one of his large hands.

"Middle of freshman year; since I turned him down. I guess about a year." Roxas looked down at Axel, noting his exasperated position. "Before you even ask, there was nobody to tell. Nobody cared. They'd probably even support him, he's so amazing..." Roxas rolled his eyes at that. "He's a State Champion in Wrestling."

"He's not a champion of anything if he does that." Axel responded bluntly.

"How did you know, anyways?" Roxas wondered aloud. "He never made any references."

"I can tell when you edit things out of your days, and you've been getting extra bruises."

"Oh."

Axel dragged his hand away from his face slowly. "I'm transferring back to Twilight." He stated. "That bastard's not gonna do that any more, and if he does you're gonna tell me, got it memorized?" He looked at the blonde, willing him to comply.

Roxas looked at Axel for a few moments, wondering when exactly he'd gained a friend that would transfer schools just to keep some creep off of him. "Yeah. It's memorized."

He pulled Axel up like he had this morning and the two walked away, their moods lightening as they walked away from the area. They figured that the worst of their problems had yet to begin when Seifer was concerned, but they would take it in stride. Most importantly, though, they would take it on together.

We're going down together and all in all, it's not so bad.