The Shadows of Love

To Love, Or Not To Love

Roxas slumped back in his bed, listening to Axel talking. His mind went wild every time he looked at the redhead.

"Roxas, are you listening?" Axel asked.

Roxas jumped. "Y-yeah. Sorry, you just-" he stopped midsentence. Why did he stop anyway?

"Listen, is something wrong? You're not acting like yourself."

"I-" Roxas just shrugged. "That's the problem. I don't feel like myself. Normally I'm fine, but after kissing you, I just feel so torn. My heart says one thing, but my mind says another."

Axel went quiet. "I see."

"And looking at you doesn't help either. It's like the moment we make eye contact, my heart flutters, and I just want- you."

Axel sat down next to him. "I want you too." He said quietly.

"You have no idea how hard it is for me to not just throw my arms around you and kiss you till I run out of air." Roxas flushed at his words. But they were all true, sadly. "Part of me wants to kiss you, and do romantic things with you, but the other part of me wants us to just be friends, and I don't know what to do."

"Take your time, Roxas." Axel responded.

"That's the problem! I feel like I'm making your hopes get too high, and I don't know what to do about it!" Roxas took a deep breath. "Maybe I just need a distraction."

"I'll be your distraction." Axel said with a stupid wink. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"I meant like a snack or something. We have ice cream, that always helps."

"You got ice cream? Well why didn't you say so?" Axel grabbed Roxas by the wrist and dragged him into the kitchen.

Roxas strained against Axel's grip until his wrist started burning. "Okay, let me go before you give me rope burn."

Axel let go and sat down on a barstool.

Roxas ran his wrist under some cold water, stating, "you should be more gentle. You nearly gave me rope burn."

"Sorry." Axel murmured. "So, ice cream?"

"It's not the kind you think. We're fresh out of sea-salt. But we got vanilla."

"Will your mom let you have ice cream before dinner?"

"Of course. As long as she doesn't find out."

As Roxas struggled to actually use the scooper to get the ice cream, he kept glaring at Axel.

"Need some help?"

"Well duh!" Roxas sat down on the counter. However, Axel didn't touch the ice cream. He went straight over to Roxas and stood in front of him.

"Yes?" Roxas let out a small gasp as Axel ruffled his hair. Axel's hand went down to his face and stroked it softly. Roxas froze, unsure how to react. A small groan escaped his lips and he immediately covered his mouth with shock.

"Roxas, are you touch starved?" Axel asked softly.

"Maybe a little bit." Roxas admitted.

Axel looked doubtful. Roxas let a small "wow." escape his mouth. Axel's eyes had never looked more stunning.

"Maybe a little more than a little bit." Roxas flinched as Axel stroked his hair. Roxas decided to let loose a bit, and run his fingers through Axel's.

Axel chuckled. "What are you doing?"

"Was your hair always this soft?" Roxas whispered.

"Wow. The sexual tension between you two is ama-zing"