Rainy Day

"Axel! Hurry up! We're gonna be late!... Again!" Roxas fidgeted impatiently by the front door wondering how exactly his boyfriend managed to be late everyday when he was always the first to wake up.

"Hold on! Just one more minute!" Axel yelled back as he dashed pass the doorway which lead from the living room to the bedrooms.

"We don't have a minute!" Roxas sighed and looked at his watch, "I'll leave without you!"

"Aw, you wouldn't do that," Axel said sarcastically as he grabbed his bag and ran pass Roxas out the front door, "You love me too much!" he flashed a cheeky grin and raced down the stairs outside their apartment.

Roxas shook his head as he slammed the door shut and ran to catch up to Axel.


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Axel shut the car off and quickly jumped out of the driver's seat, "See! Right on time!"

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Yeah, if on time is five minutes late," he too hastily exited the Firebird and began speed walking towards the front door.

Axel turned to face Roxas while continuing to walk backwards, "Come on, waiting 'til the last minute makes the day more fun! It's like a race to get here and it gets you all pumped up and ready to work!"

"No, it makes me stressed and tired," Roxas complained.

"Aw, don't worry," Axel winked, "I'll make it up to you tonight."

"Axel!" Roxas scolded as he glanced cautiously around to see if anyone had heard. Axel simply laughed and darted inside the store.

They hadn't gone five feet inside the building before they were face to face with Mr. Xemnas, the head manager. Roxas was fairly certain his name had German roots, while Axel, on the other hand, swore up and down he was some sort of secret super villain. He eyed the redhead and blonde then took note of the time on his watch, "Good morning boys. Running a bit behind again, are we?" he narrowed his eyes at them.

"Actually Mr. X, we're early," Axel remarked, "Today's Finnish daylight savings time, so we set our clocks back ten minutes," while Axel was grinning at his smart assed remark, Mr. Xemnas wasn't nearly as amused.

"Uh, we're sorry sir," Roxas quickly cut in, "our car wouldn't start this morning and right at the last second it decided to work. We'll definitely be on time tomorrow."

Mr. Xemnas, still eyeing Axel, replied, "Fine. But don't expect me to be waiting on you two everyday. There are plenty of people out there looking for a job that don't have 'car troubles,'" before they could say any more, he turned and walked away.

Roxas let out a sigh of relief and turned to Axel, "What is wrong with you?! Are you trying to get us fired?!"

Axel leaned across Roxas's shoulder, "Geez, don't worry babe, this job isn't everything you know."

Roxas was the one not amused now, "Well, maybe not to you, but I for one, would like to eat. And don't call me 'babe' at work. Someone might hear."

Axel stood up offended, "I thought you said you didn't care who knew about us."

"Yeah, I know. I don't. But Mr. X doesn't seem like the type of guy who likes gays, and if he found out, he's already got the excuse of us being constantly late to can us. So, let's just keep it quiet around work, ok?"

Axel crossed his arms and huffed, "That's bullshit. You know if he fired us after finding out we're together, than we could sue. But if that's what you want, I guess I'll go along with it. I really don't agree though, just so you know."

"Fine. Duly noted. Now let's get to work before he has another reason to get rid of us," Roxas finished as he headed towards the back of the store.

The hours ticked by slowly as Roxas worked at one of the cash registers and Axel and Demyx worked on stocking the grocery aisles. Finally noon rolled around and it was time for lunch. The three men met up at the back of the store in the company lounge, "Hey Roxas! Haven't seen you all morning," Demyx called as he waved to the short blonde.

"Yeah, I've been on register all morning. Some of those customers can be so aggravating," Roxas sighed and sat down at the table where Axel and Demyx were already seated.

"So, you were late again, huh? I didn't see you two when I clocked in," Demyx added.

"Yeah, yet again, Axel made us late," Roxas explained.

Demyx laughed, "Yeah, now I know why you two are really late all the time!," he joked. Roxas's eyes grew wide as his brain tried to warn him of the oncoming danger, but before he could say anything Demyx blurted out, "But seriously! Axel, you take so much time getting ready, you've got to be the girl of the relationship!" Roxas felt his heart sink as the room got quiet. He could feel everyone's eyes turning towards their little group. He felt as if everything was suddenly going in slow motion as he watched Demyx chuckle and Axel laugh nervously.

"Demyx!" Roxas whispered harshly, "What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"

Demyx's face went from laughing to confusion, "What do you mean?" After Roxas had nonverbally hinted to Demyx that he should take a look around the room, the taller blonde slumped in his chair, "Oh...my bad..."

Roxas let his face fall into his arms that were folded in front of him as Axel leaned across the table to Demyx, "Yeah, he didn't really want anyone at work to know, but it's a little too late now, huh?"

Demyx was almost as embarrassed as Roxas. He should have known better than to yell it out like that, "Roxas...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," he got no response.

"So...are you guys gay then?" Roxas bolted upright as a voice to his right suddenly broke the silence in the room. He looked over to find Namine, a girl who worked in the craft department, standing next to them with a thoughtful look on her face.

Roxas was trying hard to regain his composure, "Uh, well..."

Demyx cut him off before he had even started, "No! I'm not gay. These two are, but not me. I'm as straight as they come."

At that moment, Roxas would have rather been running around the store butt naked than sitting in that break room, "Demyx!" he sighed, not looking up at anyone.

"Oh, it's ok," Namine said quietly, "I have a gay brother actually. I was just asking because I've kind of had a crush on you for a while, but if you're gay, I guess it wouldn't really work out, huh?" she giggled.

Roxas suddenly felt less tense. He could breathe again and even look up at the girl, "Oh. I'm sorry Namine. I never knew. But..." he glanced around the room, noticing that everyone was watching the drama that was unfolding before them, "But yeah. Axel is my boyfriend," he took another deep breathe and waited for her response.

Namine gave Roxas a genuine smile, "Well, I'm glad I found out. That would have been kind of awkward if I'd mustered up the courage to ask you out. I'm happy you two found each other though. And it looks like Demyx's bluntness isn't always a bad thing after all," she snickered and turned to walk away, "Well, enjoy your lunch guys. I'll see you around the store," she flashed them all another smile and walked out of the room.

Roxas was in shock, not only had a girl been crushing on him, but she didn't seem to mind when she found out he was already dating another guy.

"Wow, we should get to know her better. She's really awesome," Axel replied.

The normal goings on of the break room had resumed as Roxas attempted to snap out of his daydream state, "Huh? Oh, yeah. She seems really nice. But won't you worry she'll try to steal me away? She said she'd had a crush on me."

Axel smirked and put his arm around Roxas's shoulder, "Please. There's nobody better than me. Even if she somehow managed to woo you away, you'd choose me in the end. No question."

Roxas blushed a little and smiled, "Ya know, I actually think you're right for once. You've just got something I've never found in any other person I've ever dated," Axel started to say something but Roxas cut him off, "and no, I don't mean a penis," he shook his head and rolled his eyes as the other two broke into laughter.