Hey. :)

This was just one of those stories that's been nagging at me lately...

I, unfortunately, don't own Kingdom Hearts. It would be much, much different if I did.

Thanks to tenspeed457 for being my lovely beta.

"Roxas...Roxas! ROXAS! Wake up, do you hear me? Please, please, please, don't die..."

"Roxas!" The sound of my mother's curt voice cut swiftly through my thoughts, causing the voice from my memory to abruptly stop. "Could you concentrate for just a few seconds?" The irritation was evident in her voice, as well as on her face. My mother's eyes always narrowed when she got irritated or angry, and now her eyes were barely slits.

"S-sorry. Just thinking..." I mumbled, although my mother had already turned back around to face the building we were standing in front of. She was ready to march inside; I, however, was not. I knew this-this place was going to be my home for however long they deemed it fit, which I was already informed was at least three months. Three freaking months of my life.

"C'mon, Rox." My twin brother, Sora, gave my hand a gentle squeeze and he smiled widely, although the smile didn't reach his eyes. The smile never went to his eyes anymore. Not since...well, not for awhile. "It'll be fine."

My mother sighed, and the irritated look on her face softened a little. "Of course it will, Roxas. The doctors said this would be good for you. Now come on, they're expecting us."

It took me a few moments and a tug from Sora before I began to follow after her. The entrance to this place was so freaking big, it was overwhelming. In fact, the whole place was huge and creepy, with a disarmingly chilling feeling that seemed to linger in the air like a rancid smell. I mean, I guess that's what psychiatric hospitals are supposed to look like, but still...

Because, yes, that's where I was going: the psych ward. For three months. Ninety days. 2,160 hours.

Not that I was counting or anything, though. Not at all.

My mother led us up the stairs and into the building, where a massive desk sat right by the entranceway. Right away, I noticed a few armed guards who stood on either side of the doorway, while others just milled around the lobby, and a frightened sort of feeling began to stir in the pit of my stomach. These people were so dangerous they needed guns?

She briskly walked up to the desk, all business, her high-heeled shoes clicking crisply against the marble tiled floor. "My son, Roxas, is here for his stay," she said, without any emotion at all, as though she were at one of her functions, discussing socially polite subjects like the weather.

The receptionist nodded, barely looking up from her computer. "Yes, the doctor is expecting him. Just go down this hallway, up the stairs, take a right, and it's the third door on the right."

"Thank you," my mother said, and she turned around, gesturing to Sora and me to follow her. This time, Sora took my hand, and by the look on his face, I didn't know whether it was to comfort me or himself. This time, I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and tugged him along after our mother.

It didn't take us long to follow the directions, and when we got to the large oak door, my mother gave the door three crisp knocks, immediately followed by a deep voice saying, "Come in."

My mother, ever the leader, entered first, and gestured for us to follow her again. Sora and I both did, and I shut the door firmly behind us. I really didn't care for anyone to hear what was sure to be an interesting conversation.

"Ah yes, the Strifes. Welcome. Have a seat," the doctor said. I could tell he was trying to sound warm and welcoming, but instead, it just came out sounding flat and callous. He was a big man, with a face that obviously wasn't used to showing any emotion. I had to imagine, though, that working at a place like this would do that to you. "I'm Dr. Saix. Welcome to McLean Hospital."

I just sort of nodded, and took a seat in between Sora and my mother. The doctor shuffled some papers and files around on his desk until he came to one he was obviously satisfied with, setting it on top of the others. "Ah, yes," he said again as he opened it and began to read it. "Roxas Strife. Seem to have some depression problems, do we?"

I bit my tongue to avoid saying, "Yeah, you think?," but before I could come up with a better response, my mother answered for me.

"Yes, doctor. He recently tried to commit suicide. His brother found him on the bathroom floor."

It sort of amazed me how callous my mother sounded about the situation. Poor Sora....always happy-go-lucky Sora had found me, his twin brother and best friend, on our bathroom floor, practically dead. I glanced over at him, and he was starting determinedly at the floor.

"Well, very obviously then." Dr. Saix closed the folder and leaned back in his chair, looking at us. "It's very nice, however, to see that you've both come to support Roxas. Are there any other Strifes? A father, more siblings, perhaps?"

"His father is not in the picture," my mother said, her voice somehow razor sharp and smooth all at the same time. "And they have an older brother, Cloud, who is with his father."

I noticed she hadn't bother to mention how she didn't really want Cloud, how she had pushed him to go live with our father even though he had wanted to stay with Sora and me, and vice versa. No, she didn't mention that. My mother selected her own reality most of the time, and this time was no different.

Dr. Saix just nodded and stared at me intensely for a moment. My mother looked at him expectantly, but when it was obvious he wasn't going to say anything, she said, "Well, Sora and I have better be going, Doctor, if you have nothing else. By the way..." She leaned in as though telling him a secret. "He seems to think as though he's....homosexual. Do you possibly think you could fix that?"

I sighed heavily, and my mother turned around to glare at me. Out of all the things that were wrong with me (and she didn't even know the half of it), she chose to concentrate on the fact that she had caught me kissing another guy to have the hospital fix. Awesome parenting skills, Mom. Just top notch.

"Well, we'll certainly talk about that," Dr. Saix said after a moment. "But just a few more things, Mrs. Strife, and you and Sora will be free to go. I just needed to ask Roxas a few more questions and get you and Sora's input."

Questions? This didn't sound good. Not at all. I had told some people in the psychiatric ward of the hospital a few more things than I should've, and I imagined the thick folder in front of the good doctor contained a good number of those things.

"Roxas, you mentioned you've been hearing voices. How long has that been happening?"

Shit.

This was most definitely something my mother didn't know, nor needed to know. Her eyes widened, and she said, "What? He never said anything about voices." Disgust laced every word.

"It's nothing, Mom," I mumbled, looking anywhere but my mother, the doctor, or Sora. "It's fine."

"Hearing voices is certainly not fine!" my mother said loudly. "Is it, Doctor?"

"Well, it's certainly something to be concerned---"

"What else didn't you tell me, Roxas?" my mother interrupted the doctor. "What else?!" Her voice was rising in both pitch and volume.

I sighed. I supposed that telling her some of the other things that had been going on in my mind would not be in my best interest. "Nothing, Mom." I tried to give the doctor a looked that conveyed 'Good-God-please-make-them-go.'

The doctor must have taken the hint because he said, "We'll discuss this further at another time, Mrs. Strife. I think it's time to get him settled in."

My mother looked like she wanted to argue, but the finality in the tone of Dr. Saix must have convinced her otherwise. "Fine. We surely will. Goodbye, Roxas, we'll see you shortly." My mother got up,and patted me awkwardly on the shoulder before exiting.

Sora got up more slowly, and I got up, too, as we enveloped each other in a hug. Sora, my lifeline... The good thing in my life when everything else went wrong. I really didn't want to let him go, but after a few moments, I pulled away to see tears in Sora's eyes.

"Don't cry, Sora. I'll be home soon," I promised. I didn't tell him this, but really, the only person I would want to get better for was him.

He nodded. "Of course you will. Just get better, okay?"

It was my turn to nod. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay, I'd better go. Bye, Roxas."

"Bye, Sora," I echoed, as he turned around once more to smile at me before he left.

I turned around to face the doctor, and suddenly felt a little awkward about the goodbye scene, but I was sure he had seen worse. In fact, by the size of the Kleenex box on his desk, I was pretty sure he saw people crying and carrying on every single day of his life.

"Okay, then. Well..." I noticed he pushed a button on his phone, probably buzzing for somebody. "I'll have a nurse come down and show you your room and roommate."

"Thanks," I said, almost as the same time the door opened to reveal a nurse.

"We'll talk tomorrow, Roxas," Dr. Saix said, as he opened another folder on his desk. "Get a good night's sleep. Mary, would you please show him to his room?"

"Of course. Come on, Roxas," Mary, the nurse, took me by the shoulder and led me out of the doctor's office.

It took a few minutes before we finally arrived at a door marked '13'. I sighed. Great. As though this whole trip wasn't unlucky enough. She pushed open the door to reveal a room with just enough space for two beds, two endtables, and two bureaus. And also, a silver-haired teen lounging on one of the beds.

"Riku, Roxas is here," the nurse said, somewhat softly as he got up. She turned to me. "This is your roommate, Riku. Riku, this is Roxas." The nurse smiled, obviously trying to diffuse the obviously awkward situation. I absentmindedly noticed she had really large teeth. And they were way too white.

"Nice to meet you," I said automatically remembering that my mother had drilled that one's social politeness--or lack thereof--defined them in society.

"You-you, too," he answered, wringing his hands as though he we were nervous. I couldn't imagine why he would be, though; I was impeding on his territory. I should be the one worried. Then again, I had no idea what he was in for, so his anxiety was possibly related to that.

"Okay, then. I'll let you two get acquainted. Riku, maybe show Roxas around, take him to the common room?" Mary asked with the same big-toothed smile still intact.

"Uh, sure," Riku said, even though Mary had practically edged out of the room already, shutting the door behind her.

"So much for the welcome brigade," I muttered to myself. I noticed my suitcase on the bed, and went towards it, intending to unpack.

"They're usually a lot nicer, but there was some emergency in the girls' wing. Probably Larxene having a freak-out again." Riku sat back down on his bed and studied me as I began to unpack. He had seemed to immediately relax when Mary had left. Maybe he hated authority. Or adults in general.

"Do...do freak-outs...I mean, do they happen often?" I asked.

Riku shrugged. "Now and again. Don't worry, though, the nurses and doctors are really well trained."

Yeah, I was still going to be worried. There were freaking cops with guns downstairs. To me, that was definitely cause for worry.

"Well, I'm glad I finally got a roommate." Riku broke the silence. "I was getting lonely. And you don't look too crazy."

I smiled at him. "Neither do you. And I'm not sure how good of a company I'll be."

"Well, you can carry a coherent conversation, which is more than can be said for some of the people here," Riku said, with the tiniest hints of a smile. "Lately, all I've had is Axel, and that's worse than having nobody at all."

I wondered who or what an Axel was, but I let it go. Maybe I really didn't want to know.

It didn't really take me too long to unpack; Riku and I kept up the small talk the whole time, and by the time I was done, I was feeling relatively comfortable about my new roommate. I mean, he was obviously there for a reason, but he hadn't started screaming about aliens or anything, so that was a good sign.

"So...do you want me to show you the common room? It's pretty much where everyone hangs out," Riku offered.

"Yeah, sure, thanks," I said, grateful that Riku was willing to show me around this maze.

Riku led me to an extremely large room in what seemed to be the middle of the hospital. Riku wasn't kidding when he said everyone hung out there; it seemed to be packed. We finally found a couch and an armchair for us to sit, me taking the armchair and Riku taking the couch to lie down on.

"So this is the common room?" I asked as I looked around at the various people lounging around.

"Yeah. Like I said, everyone hangs here, mostly. I...Oh, great," Riku muttered under his breath right before a sudden blur of red seemed to land on top of him. The form stayed still enough for me to recognize a guy, maybe about my age, or a little older, lying practically on top of Riku, clearly smothering him. He didn't seemed too concerned about the health of my roommate, though, as he looked in my direction.

The first thing I noticed was his hair. I mean, how could you not notice it? It was a shock of obnoxious red spikes; it almost appeared as though fire was erupting right from his skull. If that wasn't enough, however, to get you to notice him, I was sure the piercing, emerald green eyes or the diamond tattoos under them would.

"Afill, geroofme," Riku managed to get out, as he attempted to push the redhead off of him. I thought for a moment Riku might have somewhat of a chance; even though the one suffocating him was about four or so inches taller than him, he was extraordinarily lanky, and I was guessing they might have weighed about the same.

"Wow, fresh meat," he said, as his eyes studied me from head-to-toe. "And you are--?"

"Roxas. He's my roommate. Who, I might add, you're currently suffocating," I said, as I gestured to a still struggling Riku underneath him.

The man shrugged. "He'll be fine. So I'm Axel." Ah. So this was Axel. He stuck out his hand, and I awkwardly shook it. "It's so very nice to meet you."

"Thanks. But seriously, though, Riku's stopped struggling, and I think it's because he's running out of air."

Axel rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "You guys are just no fun at all." He got up and Riku jumped up almost immediately.

"Fuck, Axel, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" Riku asked angrily as he rubbed his shoulder where Axel had been settled. "It hurts!"

Axel just sort of collapsed on the couch, his lanky frame taking up the whole thing. He grinned sardonically at Riku, who was forced to take one of the armchairs next to mine.

"Sorry, Riku," Axel said nonchalantly, but it was obvious his attention was already elsewhere. He studied me some more, making me squirm in my seat a little.

Riku cleared his throat after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, and Axel just staring at me. "So this is Roxas' first day here, so be nice, Axel."

"Mmmhmm," Axel grumbled absentmindedly. "Sure. I'll be real nice. So, Roxy, what are you in here for?" Axel changed subjects so suddenly it startled me into answering.

"They say I'm depressed."

"Well, no shit. Didn't you try to off yourself?" During our discourse, Axel had pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and began to spin the key ring around his finger, over, and over, and over again, causing the keys to clang together annoyingly.

"Yeah," I admitted. "How'd you know?"

Axel shrugged. "Most people in here have tried. It's a fair bet. So how'd you do it?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I really, really, really didn't want to talk about this, but it seemed to me that Axel was one of those people who wouldn't let anything go.

"A ton of aspirin and vodka," I answered after a moment.

Axel sighed heavily again and put his hand across his face dramatically. "How boring."

"Excuse me?" That was definitely not the answer I had expected. I guess I had expected some sort of sympathy. That's all they had been feeding me up until I had gotten into this place.

Axel suddenly stopped spinning the key ring and grinned. "Well, it is. See that kid over there?" Axel gestured with his head towards a kid curled up in a corner armchair, with slate gray hair that covered most of his face. He was calmly reading a book, as though nothing in life was wrong. "Zexion. Tried to hang himself, but he just ended up fucking with his vocal chords. And that kid?" Axel pointed to a girl who was watching T.V., with blond hair that had two pieces of hair up like antennae. "Larxene slit her wrists, and when her mom found her, there was so much blood she was practically swimming in it....and that kid..."

"Okay, okay, I get it," I interrupted. "Next time I try to off myself, I'll be more creative about it."

"Good, and be clean about it, too. No one likes cleaning up after someone offs themselves," Axel said sort of matter-of-factly. "Anyway, what other diagnosis did they give you? They always have to give you a disorder."

I shrugged. "I don't know. They just said I'm depressed." Before Axel could make any sort of further comment, I asked, "What are you in for, then?"

Axel's grin lit up his entire face. God, he was gorgeous, once you got past his obnoxiousness... "I've been in and out of here since I was 13. I'm on a first-name basis with these people."

"You didn't answer my question," I pointed out. "Why are you in here? Did you try to off yourself, too?"

"All stories for another time, Blondie," Axel said. He sat up a little on the couch as he looked down the hallway towards the nurses' station."I'm due for..." He held up a finger. "Wait for it...."

Almost as if on cue, I could hear a nurse suddenly bellow from down the hallway, "AXEL! YOU'D BETTER GIVE ME THOSE KEYS BACK RIGHT NOW, OR SO HELP ME GOD!"

Axel stood up, unfolding his entire frame, and smiled at me. "Nice getting to know you, Roxy, but I have to run. Another time, then?"

Before I could answer, Axel had ambled in the opposite direction, down one of the side hallways. Not a few seconds later, a red-faced nurse appeared in front of us, clearly out of breath.

"Have you seen Axel?" she wheezed, her entire body heaving.

Both Riku and I shook our heads. "Nope," Riku answered. "Not for awhile."

She sighed exasperatedly and began to take off in the opposite direction Axel had gone, probably ensuring his freedom and safety for at least a little while.

I looked around the common room, expecting someone to be disturbed by the sudden noise, but no one had even so much as looked up, causing me to wonder if this was an everyday occurrence.

"So that was Axel, huh?" I asked after a moment or two of silence between Riku and me.

Riku nodded slowly. "Yeah, that was Axel."

"So...is he a kleptomaniac or something?" I could still hear the distant yelling of the nurse, and wondered how long it would take her to realize she wasn't even in the same wing of the hospital as him.

"Nope. He just does that for fun. He's a sociopath," Riku replied, as he reached over to one of the tables and grabbed a magazine.

"And that means...?" I prompted.

"He's got Antisocial Disorder or something like that." Riku was clearly already absorbed in his magazine, but I had to know.

"And that means...?" I repeated impatiently. "What does that mean?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. What you just saw, I guess."

"Gee, thanks, Riku," I said sarcastically. I was a little disappointed that the sarcasm was obviously lost on him, as he said nothing more. I leaned back in my chair and sighed. No one wanted to give up any information here; that was obvious, and it was kind of annoying, to be honest. I wanted to know what sort of lunatics I would be living with for the next three months. Although...I guess I really had no room to talk.

"So, really, though, what are you in for?" Riku asked suddenly.

"I told you, depression. The doctor said they can't make a full diagnosis yet," I answered truthfully, although I didn't add that I had been previously hearing voices and believing that everyone in a red car was out to get me....

Because, you know, that just made me sound crazy.

"Well, Axel's right, you know. They'll diagnose you soon."

I waited a moment or two before asking, "Well, what are you in for?"

"Oh, this and that," Riku answered vaguely before going back to his magazine.

I sighed again and leaned back into my chair, closing my eyes. Fair was fair, I guess. I wasn't going to give up any information, and neither was he. I was pretty sure we would probably find out about each other soon enough; it would be practically impossible to live in as small of a space as we did and not know something.

I lay there for a little while, beginning to doze off to the sounds of the still yelling nurse after Axel. A sociopath, huh? That sounded pretty serious. Axel hadn't really seemed crazy; a little wild, a little narcissistic, but hey...as good looking as he was, he had a right to be. So what caused this obviously confident, gorgeous male to be locked up here for so long?

I was most definitely going to have to find out more about the redhead.

So...I hope you liked it! Like I said, it's been nagging at me, so I hope the result is good.

If you would like to, I would love it if you would review. That would be amazing.

I'm a notoriously slow updater, but I'm going to TRY REALLY, REALLY hard with this one, I swear!

Thanks for reading!