Author's Note: as promised. ;) here be epilogue II, and expected to follow right at its heels is the final epilogue III. i have a strange fascination with epilogues, do i not? xO

see, now, there was only supposed to be ONE epilogue, but because i felt there were too many things left open for the imagination, i decided to go ahead and, well, make more. so keep your imaginations bottled up, ey? besides, if i did this all in one go, it would basically be a 20 page oneshot in itself. NOT TOO BRIGHT. xO

so! you ready for some more!? BRING IT. and for GOD'S SAKE, AXEL. SHUT UP. (what ever for, i wonder?)

-Epilogue II: SHUT! UP! AXEL!-

It shouldn't have come as any bit of surprise to Roxas that Axel would know his own work space better than himself. Sometimes it made him feel stupid, other times more apathetic. He tried to keep his reaction to a minimum upon setting foot into the unfamiliar surroundings, or as Axel called it: "addition" to the club.

Yes, there was the familiar scent of alcohol and smoke lingering about, but this particular section seemed to be lacking the intensity just a tad. Shifting his eyes left and right, Roxas kept his hands gripping onto his arms while he followed a good two steps away from Axel who was, once again, busy surveying the pink lighting cast upon the black walls.

It was a small room—possibly big enough for ten or so. Perhaps it wasn't even a room, but more of a short hallway. On both sides of the hallway were doors, five on each side spaced fairly far apart from the other. Each one was labeled clearly above the frame with a number and four of the ten—1, 3, 4 and 10—were illuminated with a pale green light. Roxas hesitantly laid his palm on the wall beside door number 10 to his right and quickly retracted when he felt strange vibrations on the other side.

He blinked and turned his attention to the front. "Let's get outta here, Axel," he muttered while glimpsing at the door again. Seeing the number 10 lit up with green like that made a stinging feeling erupt in the pit of his stomach and he coiled his fingers thinking about the others.

But Axel didn't respond...not right away, at least. With his head tilted a bit to the right, Axel narrowed his eyes and allowed them to move at will—to look wherever they anticipated would trigger the best feeling under his skin. But it was all so...perfect. The redhead was highly unaware that he was starting to hyperventilate like a maniac, like an addict, like a—like a—

"Axel."

Hearing Roxas' voice caused Axel's heart to skip a beat. To his eyes, Roxas was something new to this environment—something hastily placed in the corner in hopes that it would change the entire room overall. He was used to the fast lane, the bright lights, the neon, the reflective floors and the feeling of smoke twisting around his body.

And along comes Roxas...

For a while, Axel eyed his boyfriend as if he forgot who he was to begin with. His lips were parted and his eyes relaxed as if he would collapse any second. Roxas inched closer toward him in concern.

"I...wanna get out of here. Look," he said, extending a finger out toward the end of the hallway a few steps away, "I think if we go right we can get to the stairs. That'll take us to the lockers on the second floor. I'm...pretty sure that's where I left it."

The hallway wasn't terribly narrow, but Roxas was starting to act like it was from what Axel could see in his behavior. The blonde began to fidget with his hair and clothes while he made an attempt to pass Axel to get to the stairs. While his face remained as relaxed as it had been admiring his discovery, Axel stared ahead, allowed Roxas to brush past him and quietly asked:

"It ain't easy, is it, Rox?"

"What?"

Axel lowered his head with a sigh and his lips formed into a thin smile. "Lookin' out for me, right?"

Honestly, Axel really did feel bad for Roxas. And honestly, he really felt bad that Roxas had to carry so much responsibility. It was the kid's birthday and both of them had to live with the fact that Roxas was the bacon bringer in their relationship. Roxas was the one with the decent apartment. Roxas was the one who had the decency to perform a reality check.

The days the two of them could see each other were usually filled with stories about stress and all that jazz. So...maybe he felt a bit bad that he wasn't letting Roxas leave Envy. Just because of his selfish needs, Roxas had to remain in a job he hated.

Roxas cleared his throat and shook his head after glancing briefly over his shoulder. "What're you talking about?"

"Don't go hidin' with this one, Roxas, alright?" Axel spun around to face Roxas' back. "I'm pissin' you off."

"You're not pi—"

"...and I'm not—"

"But I just told you—"

"Roxas, I—"

"Axel, you're—"

"Lookit me, ok? Lemme talk and fucking look at me, please."

Here it goes, Roxas thought. This was going to be the argument of all arguments for them. Why? Well, Axel had finally brought in the big guns: the swearing and the demands. Hesitantly and with confused eyes, Roxas turned halfway and locked his and Axel's eyes together. Immediately, Axel took a step toward him and continued without bothering to wait for more of a response from Roxas.

"See, the reason why I know that I piss you off even in the slightest is 'cause of all this, I dunno...disregarding crap! You think ignoring is really gonna help me?"

"I just don't—mm..." Roxas paused and rubbed the back of his neck in thought.

Axel smiled almost maniacally. "Ah, see that? You're just in denial is all! Am I gettin' in th' ball park here?"

Roxas didn't respond.

"Rox," the redhead sighed and took two more steps to break the large gap between the two of them, "ok, I appreciate what you're tryin' t' do for me, really. And I've tried to turn around and...I guess fix myself like you want."

"I don't—"

"Ah, ah," Axel interrupted, causing Roxas to stare cross eyed at his raised finger. "Listen..." With yet another heavy exhale, Axel took his hand and softly propped it atop his boyfriend's head. From there he spread his fingers and allowed them to gently play with the little tufts of dirty blonde hair—tugging, coiling...

"I don't wanna lose you...but at the same time I can't afford tossin' myself away, understand?" He lowered his head to Roxas' height to get a better look at those baby blues. "Yeah, I get that my behavior isn't the cleanest out there, and I'm definitely not the guy you imagined you'd be with years back, right? Dancer, gigolo, playboy—this list botherin' you yet?"

It took him a second, but Roxas eventually shook his head toward his feet. Feeling Axel's fingers tangled up in his hair was comforting, yeah, but at the same time it just wasn't enough to fix the stupid guilt. Now that Axel had pinpointed everything about himself that Roxas hated, he just didn't know what to say. A sorry wouldn't be enough. Nothing seemed to be enough.

"Thing is, Rox, it's...who I am. I'm always gonna be erratic and on the unstable side, and you should know that. No sense in shyin' 'way from clubs like this or tryin' t' keep me in the house before dark, y'know?" Axel chuckled to himself and used both hands to cup both sides of Roxas' head. Roxas slowly looked up with tired eyes and, to both his and Axel's surprise, smiled. A weak smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"That's it," the redhead whispered in approval. "Ah, Rox. Total opposites, us guys." He steadily brushed one thumb against Roxas' cheek. Damn, he adored this kid. To death. It didn't occur to him at once just what it was about Roxas that was so appealing. A little something to give his life balance—that's what he was. Yin for Yang, the whole shebang.

Well, Axel did manage to snag a kiss after that. But given the circumstances, he couldn't extend the time it lasted. Still holding Roxas' head in his hands, Axel looked ahead down the hallway and rolled his eyes.

"C'mon. Let's get outta here, huh? Besides...I've got your—"

"H-hold on...You hear that?"

"Hear what now?"

Roxas backed his head away from Axel for a second upon hearing muffled voices growing closer to where they were standing. He clenched his teeth together and turned back toward the way they came in panic. Judging by Axel's widened eyes, he got the message loud and clear. Well, why wasn't he moving then?

"That voice sounds awful familiar, Rox."

"Let's go, come on!" Roxas hissed, pushing at Axel's side roughly only to get...nowhere.

Axel looked around the room—this way that way, up and down until finally he spotted a door right in front of his face. Ah. How conveniently placed. So with little effort, Axel reached for the knob, turned it and nudged his head toward the waiting room inside.

"Go!"

"But the exit—"

"T' hell with it!" Axel replied through clenched teeth while stomping his foot once. Since he'd raised his voice, Roxas jumped and instantly bolted into the dark room. God, he hoped that Axel knew what the hell he was doing. Then again, it might have been stupid to try and hope for that sort of thing. So Roxas just held his breath as he moved as far to the back of the room as possible, hoping that he'd at least be able to break the person's line of vision.

No sooner had Roxas tapped the wall did Axel slam the door shut. Great, Roxas thought, rolling his eyes. That was inconspicuous. He shut his eyes and literally threw himself upon a wrap-around couch with one arm laid across his forehead. What a day...

"My boss..." he grumbled towards the ceiling. Axel pried his ear away from the door and looked over his shoulder at Roxas lying on the couch.

"That 'im?"

Roxas nodded solemnly and began to smear his other hand down his face. At least there were no bright lights in this room—just one red lamp sitting on a coffee table in the middle. The walls were black, the couch was black. Huh. Something didn't feel right.

"Keep it down. If he catches me in here he'll cut me loose like that." Roxas snapped his fingers once. But all this talk about his frightening boss didn't seem to be getting to Axel very much. No, he just stood there letting the words slip right past him like a breeze. The blonde slightly lifted his head from the couch to look at Axel to the best of his ability in the poorly lit black room.

"Axel?"

"Hmhm..."

Roxas lifted his head even more and furrowed his eyebrows suspiciously. "Hey."

Suddenly, against what Roxas ordered, Axel leaned forward, held his elbows and began to laugh...profusely. Ah, dammit! Instantly, Roxas threw his feet back on the floor and held his hands out in front of him.

"Shut up! Axel! Shh!"

But still the redhead persisted and it even came to the point where he was gasping for air—barely uttering Roxas' name. If his boss heard that—

"Ah, R-Ro—ahaha! Shit! Aha! Y-you should've—you—"

"You're being stupid!" Roxas whispered and stood from the couch with his hands clenched. He wondered if there would ever be a time where they would have a non-bipolar relationship. Maybe this was the perfect time to answer that question. So without another second of hesitation, Roxas strode across the small room and once he was close enough, raised his hand and slapped it firmly over his boyfriend's lips. This immediately caused Axel to not only silence, but his eyes to flash as he was backed into the wall by Roxas' new death grip.

Once again Roxas brought a finger to his lips and remained holding Axel in one place while waiting for his boss' voice to start up again. Sure enough, after one arduous minute passed, he could hear voices return towards the end of the hallway. He shook his head in disappointment and shot his eyes directly into Axel's, which were still unblinking and quivering in place.

"Ok. Yeah, now you're pissin' me off," he hissed, pressing harder with his hand to which Axel twitched.

He tried to speak, really, but, god, where in the hell did Roxas get this fucking arm strength from? So it was sexy to some degree, but still, ouch. No really. Ouch. Axel began to shake his head to try to free his lips and Roxas finally released him with a staggered groan. Both of them fell limp where they stood. That is, until Axel decided he wanted to test that new part of Roxas—the side that was suddenly trained in self defense and yadda-yadda.

With the blonde caught off guard, Axel literally swooped down so that his head was level with Roxas' stomach. And in one swift maneuver he collided with the blonde, wrapped his arms around his thin waist and lifted him up once he had him slammed against the opposite wall. Roxas nearly lost his breath and in near shock he gripped onto Axel's shoulders thinking that he would lose his balance.

"A-ah!" Roxas gritted out in pain.

One might've called Axel a sadist to be smirking at his boyfriend's reaction. But, no, it wasn't that he felt good about harming Roxas, it was just that he rather liked it when he...surprised him. Hm. And Roxas said he was horrible at it. Well, then...

"Let's see now..."

"A-Axel. Quit...it!" Roxas tightly shut his eyes until he could feel tears forcing their way through the corners. His jaw dropped upon feeling fingers inching up the back of his shirt and nails clawing at his skin. He held his breath, hoping that it would be enough to keep his voice from rising any higher, though it wasn't helping so much.

Ah, this was where the fun was at. Let's step out of the box for a minute here. That's right. There was a very good reason why he wanted to make Roxas scream. Actually, more reasons than one. For now, he had to concentrate on giving birthday boy here something to...remember this place by.

With a hand gently lifting the back of Roxas' shirt up, Axel dipped his head and began to lick the bit of skin showing on Roxas' right hip. Roxas squirmed violently and began to pant. Hm, that was alright, he guessed. But a little more noise would be nice. So Axel ventured higher and higher still until he could feel a faint heartbeat on his lips. Axel began to drag his tongue along Roxas' torso in places where he'd memorized what the reaction would be.

Roxas' fingers twitched and dug deeper and deeper into Axel's shoulders. He just wondered whether or not he was writhing because he rather wanted Axel at the moment, or just because he wanted to beat the ever-living crap out of him. It felt sort of like a mix of both, sadly enough. No, no, he had to keep his eyes closed and his mouth shut. Ah, ah, don't say that, Roxas. Keep everything to yourself. Do this and you won't regret it later. You can do this; you can so do this...

"Axelareyoucrazy?" Roxas had to speak quickly and in one breath otherwise he feared he would lose his composure. Axel simply shook his head while still sucking on Roxas' cold skin. "Ican'tbelieveyou—ah—whyare—nh—Ijust—ahfuckyouseriously..."

Ah, all this incoherent speech was secretly amusing to Axel. He tried not to giggle thinking about it, and instead lowered Roxas' body just to give him the impression that he was going to lay off. Roxas slowly lowered himself onto the couch once more, but before he could catch his breath, there Axel was sprawled atop him. Axel began in the dip where Roxas' collarbones met and kissed upward from there. All the while, Roxas still stuck with talking gibberish.

Oh, they were this close to the tippy top now. Axel could feel it in his stomach...and most other places, yes, why do you ask? Finally, Axel lowered his hands and began to fiddle around down south while he gave Roxas' neck one last bite. All those touches combined forced Roxas' body into submission and all at once his legs bucked, his head threw back and one utterly perfect sound escaped his lips.

Hm. Like being on a leash.

"Thank you," Axel whispered with a chuckle beside Roxas' ear once his moaning had died down.

Roxas was still panting wildly and his head was still pressed into the couch when he replied shakily, "Y-you...suck."

Axel would've made a nice, lascivious comeback for that one, but he figured that with the sudden rapping on their door, why, he just wouldn't have time. So instead he looked up across the room toward the knocking sound and remained positioned on Roxas' waist when he called out:

"...It's open."

Well, that sure earned another freak out scenario from Roxas. What the fuck could possibly be going through Axel's fucking head!? Nothing all too smart, no doubt. But where could he run to now? Here he was, unzipped, laying down and fucking pinned in a dark room in public. In public. Now the door was wide open...and Roxas honestly felt, ah, screwed before he "got screwed", if that made a bit of sense.

With a hand slapped over his eyes, Roxas turned back to the ceiling and left the image of his boss staring right at them to flash in his mind over and over and over again.

Roxas felt Axel's body lower back down on him and he twitched uneasily.

"Something botherin' you?"

His boss didn't reply.

"Of 'course...you've seen the whole world by now...haven't you, Xiggy?"

Xiggy?

"Xiggy?" Roxas asked quietly, carefully lifting a finger away from his eyes to get a better look.

There was his boss standing with his arms crossed in the doorway and a stubby little cigarette in between his lips. His hair was once again tied at the back tonight and his latest thing was to wear a nice suit to work. For the ladies, he said. Yeah. If anything else Roxas thought it made him look like a pedophile.

Axel relaxed his shoulders and curled up nice and easy under Roxas' chin. Again with the kitten behavior. "What's up with the costume, boss?"

Xigbar, or Xiggy as he was called, sighed and leaned against the door frame with a thin smile playing on his lips. "Hm. Thought I recognized that voice...Sugar jus' wasn't th' same without ya, Axel."

"Hm. Flattering."

"So I opened up this place. Beauty, isn't she?" He brought a hand up to the wall and patted it once. "Best joint in town, you heard?"

Axel shook his head slowly and rubbed his leg against Roxas', making Roxas shift once more. "Hm."

"Most people think she's just a dance club an' bar, but she's got this secret spot at the back-a the club for th' dancers. Four of 'em righ' now, actually. Shoulda known you'd find it. Couldn't stray away from that gig forever, right?"

"Hmhm."

"...I was jus' wonderin' when I'd find you again, Axel. Can't be much of a...dance joint if you're not on the scene." Well, that obviously hinted something. Ah, Xigbar. Old tricks die hard. Didn't you ever learn? Axel shut his eyes softly and continued to snuggle in closer to Roxas with his arms wrapped very loosely around the blonde's neck.

"Come on," Xigbar coaxed in a gruff voice. "You're th' best in town, remember? Huh? An' in Envy, ch, damn, you'll be practically a celebrity. See all these here rooms? People'll wanna lock 'emselves up jus' t' be with ya. More than you got at Sugar, y'know. Way more cash."

The redhead sighed lazily and stretched his long legs out on the couch. That's right. Let's make Xigbar beg. Remember these legs? Hm? The freakin' sexy ones that got you that suit, that's what. "Hah. You're way too much. But, hm...now that I'm all preoccupied with...work, you know—"

"Work?" Both Roxas and Xigbar asked at once. Axel looked up at Roxas hazily and once more planted a kiss on his lips.

"Can't have my..." Kiss, kiss, suck, suck. "...baby brother workin' all by himself, you know."

Now that, oh, that made Roxas' head spin out of control. Clearly Xigbar was just as equally mystified judging by the fact that his cigarette fell onto the floor as soon as his mouth dropped wide open. He shook his hands in front of him and ogled the two making out right before his eyes.

"What'd you just—?"

"Mm..." Axel pulled out of Roxas' mouth for a second to reply. "Didn't Roxas tell you? He's the one I was tryin' t' help when I worked for you, ya know. But now that he's workin' all these nights 'way from home, I get, I dunno...lonely." Roxas felt Axel move his lower body, rubbing them together in a painfully slow motion. He swallowed and kept to himself. What?

Xigbar...still stood there...ogling.

"Oh, sorry, Xiggy. Forgot you still got a job t' do, right?" With yet another devious chuckle, Axel slipped away from the couch and helped a shaken Roxas up to his feet. From there he started to walk toward the hallway once again, not once taking his sight away from his ex-boss positively stupefied face. As he typically did in the old days, Axel brought a hand to Xigbar's shoulder, brushed it shyly and winked. But as an addition to his gesture, Axel carefully leaned in until he was a mere centimeter away from touching Xigbar's ear only to whisper in a sultry voice:

"We fuck on a daily basis."

That time, Xigbar nearly lost all color in his face. Actually, scratch that. Yes. He just flat out lost all of it. Maybe a bit of his soul. And not to mention a tad bit of his sanity.

"Well, you take care now, Xiggy. Let's go, Roxas. Stuff t' do, people t' see, all that."

"Y-yeah..."

"Oh, and Xiggy."

Xigbar blinked and still didn't budge from his spot.

"I'll be takin' 'im with me for good, so don't be expecting 'lil Roxy back. I just get awful jealous when he's with other people for too long. Hope you can understand that, hm? Big brother instinct?"

"Axel..." Roxas muttered into Axel's arm.

"Don't worry 'bout it Roxas. My turn t' take care-a you." Axel had said that so quietly over his shoulder so as to make sure Xigbar wouldn't catch a drop of it, although from the looks of things, Xigbar was too busy being a corpse to use his senses...what was left of them at least. Laughing softly to himself, Axel wrapped an arm around Roxas' shoulders and pulled him closer toward his body as they turned on the hallway and headed for the back entrance.

Axel's Punishment

"You...turned him down, Axel," Roxas whispered while just barely turning his head toward his thoroughly entertained boyfriend. Honestly, he was surprised that Axel was walking out on an offer that he assumed he'd never refuse. Not once. Ever. Wasn't this where he belonged? Didn't he say that this was who he was? Who he was going to stay?

A loud thump could be heard on the other side of the door as Axel shut it behind them and suddenly ran down the steps dragging Roxas alongside him for the ride. Either Xigbar had gone unconscious or someone had shot a wall...hm. That was a thought.

"Yeah? I didn't go there to get a job, Rox." With that said, Axel came to a stop just as the two of them approached the sidewalk across the street from the club. "...Jus' t' get you outta yours."

Roxas blinked and that time really did look straight at Axel like he was a madman. "Wait, huh?"

He watched as Axel's hand ventured toward his pocket and returned with something he couldn't see clearly in the dark just yet. Roxas squinted to try and pick out the details, but it wasn't until he felt the texture of the object on his fingers did his eyes widen and his jaw drop.

"My wallet? You—"

"Call it a gift," Axel interrupted, thrusting the wallet into Roxas' unsuspecting hand. "Had t' get ya to th' club somehow."

"S-so—so you stole it from me just so we could—Axel, what were you think—?"

But as Roxas stuttered over his words and searched for the right ones to say and how, he completely forgot that deep down inside, well, he was...happy. Staring down at his wallet, he began to think that maybe this was the turning point he'd been waiting for—not just for him, but possibly for Axel, too. Possibly. Yeah, Axel's strategy was stupid and definitely blunt, but, really, Roxas knew that Axel had done something right. Weird. He'd never felt so great to be out of a job.

Suddenly, he felt fingers on his face and realized that Axel was once again holding his head with both hands.

"...So...happy birthday?"

Roxas smirked at that and brought a hand up to Axel's cheek, giving him a soft slap. "That's for being reckless."

Axel raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Oh?"

"Here's for being a pervert." He then fisted his hand and rammed it into Axel's stomach to which the redhead bent forward and chuckled.

"Ooo...Yeah?"

To Axel's surprise, Roxas still wasn't finished with his disciplining session. In fact, it just seemed that Roxas was getting started. The blonde immediately grabbed Axel's forearms with both hands and forcefully threw him against the nearest vertical surface, which just happened to be a chain link fence. From there he glared at Axel with one hand on his hip and his eyes flashing.

"That's for manipulating me, stealing from me, making me miss out on Italian food, making me run around town, taking me to a place in work I really didn't need to see, blowing our cover, permanently scarring me and my boss, destroying my reputation at Envy, attempting to nail me in fucking public, telling lies, implying fucking incest, keeping us outta the house past 9:00, more than likely giving me fucking hickeys, keeping me at that club in the first place, not getting a job for yourself, making me buy all those fucking thongs on the weekends when I could've been doing something more productive with my life..."

With every point made, Roxas thrust a finger into Axel's chest, making the redhead squirm slightly, but with a smile still drawn on his face. Axel just couldn't help but think this was all leading up to something enjoyable. Of course, with Roxas it was always hard to tell.

And so he waited...and waited still. Yes, he heard Roxas' words, but wasn't much paying attention. And eventually his waiting ended when Roxas let out an aggravated groan, and against what he thought he might do—which was kick him in the balls—Roxas took a large step forward, latched his fingers onto the spaces in the chain link fence and proceeded to lock lips with Axel.

"Mm..." Axel mumbled in slight shock. Ah, Roxas definitely changed. Quite a bit. Why was he so forward?

Minutes passed and finally Roxas moved his head back just enough for their foreheads to touch. Both could hear thunder rumbling quietly in the distance, but weather shouldn't come in between a good talk. Roxas' blue, blue eyes scanned over Axel's face and for once, Axel really couldn't tell if the blonde was truly pissed, or not.

"...And that?" he asked innocently, gently laying a hand behind Roxas' neck. Roxas smiled, rested his chin atop Axel's shoulder and replied:

"For everything."

Boxers

Axel eventually came to terms that both he and Roxas were going to go dead broke if he didn't take action and job hunt, so along with landing an internship with photo choreography, he ventured into the strange men's department at the local shopping centre and decided to give cheaper, socially acceptable boxers a try. The level of their relationship is yet to be discovered, but judging by the number of them being washed a week, one can only assume that, yes; Axel loves his boxers.

Catch the Waves...and some Z's

Roxas landed a job as a part-time lifeguard at the local beach, and so far hasn't had to rescue anyone from a shark contrary to popular belief. Still, he's waiting for the opportunity to come around the corner.

His sleeping pills were discarded and his sleeping patterns returned to semi-normal, considering that Axel keeps him awake most nights with serious needs to be met—not only sex, mind you. He's since put his birthday cake mix in the oven and learned how to work the microwave presets, though he can't yet figure out how to program the time.

Oh, Brother

Sora and Roxas' mother were both finally informed of Roxas' social status as well as who he has chosen as his partner for more than likely years to come.

Sora was speechless, mother was overjoyed.

Both stopped by for a visit after months of waiting and stayed until 3:00 AM listening to stories about Axel's "brother" and hair gel application. Sora announced that he would be moving out within the month, hopefully to the same apartment complex as Roxas and Axel.

Roxas has since been searching for new places to reside.

And They All Lived...

Both Axel and Roxas are doing better than they expected. They no longer only see each other a couple of days and hours a week, but now everyday. They've come to an agreement of who sleeps on which side of the bed: Roxas on the right, Axel on the left and occasionally at the foot. They have also come to an understanding about sex: whenever Axel feels like it. Axel has recently discovered that Roxas loves to top, and finds it hard to get him to stop it.

Roxas is an animal.

Both enjoy picking each other's clothes from time to time as well as sharing straws and headphones. Axel is, at the moment, trying to convince Roxas into installing a stripper pole at the dead center of the living room. Roxas is pretending to Google a contractor for the job.

For their one year anniversary, Axel is finally planning on taking Roxas out for Italian because now they have the money to afford it. They have yet to make a slam dunk at the basketball court, but according to Axel, it'll happen when Roxas least expects it—namely next week on a Sunday night when no one is around. Both have paid Club Envy a visit for a night of dancing, which slowly progressed into the wee hours of the morning.

Neither can recall the events that took place that night, but Axel has a feeling that there was a spoon involved.

Axel loves dancing for Roxas some days at home while Roxas tries to channel surf on a slow day. Roxas ignores this, but eventually loses his mind when he hears a zipper being undone, resulting in instant attention. He hopes that one day he'll be able to fake drowning in the water to get Roxas to perform CPR. It's a good thing.

Ah, yes.

Have we mentioned love...?

are you blinded by the sight of love by now? if not by love, by axel's crazy antics? xO ya can never get him to stop, can ya? the dork.

it ain't over 'til i say it's over, folks! one more chapter to go and we'll be home free. thank you so much to the people that've stuck by me for the ride so far and a special shout out to those of you who leave nice reviews, not just for this baby, but for all the other ongoing stories i have out right now! it's been a better summer knowing that i've got SOMETHING to look forward to. DX

school year started for anyone yet? yes, no? well, for all of you that ARE at school now: good luck and stay dry. for those of you who are waiting for it to pounce: wear a helmet and stay off the drugs. you'll need a good head on your shoulders. oh, and good luck and stay dry as well. xD

i had fun with the chapter, can't you tell? -cricket- XO seriously! it was great fun! 4 AM writing a majority of it! mhm. it was WONDERFUL. but what i'm really itching to get done is the next installment. hopefully you'll be there to see it, yes? YES?? yes, you SO will. i will hunt you down if i have toooooo. like a ninja, yo. XD now, for those of you who would rather ignore the "after hours" -nudgenudge- portion of this story, you don't have to read the next epilogue. of course, if you checked number 1 on the list of epilogue ideas from the previous chapter, you go right ahead. until then! MAZZELTOFF.

(god i love that word. XD)

i'm so installing a stripper pole in my room,
kokoro77