And I'm back!
Thanks to a week of being bed-ridden (not as fun as I thought it'd be, by the way) I finally got this one-shot edited. I actually made this December but forgot about it until I was writing Back To Basic's Chapter Eight (which is already posted, thank God) and checking the DNA folders on my computer.
So, this one takes place during New Year's--it's really late, I know, but I just had to post it here. It's been such a long time since my last update of anything, I didn't want you guys thinking I've given up on DNA completely. Better late than never and all that, right?
This is dedicated to YukariSejuru (you saw this coming, you little guilt-tripper)! Welcome to the Dark (and Riku) side! Told you you'd love them. Thank you for helping me through the writer's block.
Standard disclaimers apply. And, as always, reviews are appreciated!
I've never been one for New Year resolutions.
Too much work for my taste—what with being forced to admit just how much I messed up my life in the past twelve months (and humiliating myself in the process) and everything. That and others expect me to live up to those damned promises I knew (before I even made them) I wasn't going to accomplish. I thought naiveté wasn't as rampant as before.
But it's tradition and I sure as hell am not going to be the idiot to break them. Especially with Riku Harada just waiting for me to do so, a little too gleefully I might add. Which is why for the past few years or so, my New Year's resolution has been to make an effort to stop one of my vices—only one at a time, mind you, it wouldn't have helped my cause if I stopped them all and ended up with nothing the next time New Year's came round.
So first it was drinking, next came staying out all night (and worrying my friends to their graves, or so they liked to guilt-trip me), third ended all my casual flings and so on and so forth 'til I've actually got nothing to change in my lifestyle now. It's been good while it lasted though (the superficial stuff) and it kept Riku happy enough seeing (which was my real and only goal in the first place). But now I have a huge problem in my hands.
What the hell am I going to do for my New Year's resolution?
"Again, are you sure you didn't drug me into befriending you that night at the Angels' party? My instincts couldn't have been too off when we were still in college," I asked Riku, bane of my existence, tormentor of my sanity and the only person in the world who could have possibly roped me into this situation. I'd add another description in there but it would've made me sound too much of a love-struck hopeless romantic.
"Oh, stop complaining, Dark. You didn't have to come with me tonight. So unless you have your New Year's resolution already, I suggest you shut up and think," she answers vaguely, head still slightly bent over the piece of paper on her lap.
"What do you mean, I didn't have to come with you? Did you really give me any other choice when you yanked me out of my house at this godforsaken hour, half-conscious and inebriated with painkillers? And you can't get out of that one either, you knew I was having a migraine but you still went right in and manhandled me until you got your way."
She looked up from the paper she was just staring at intensely and frowned. But, for once, she kept quiet.
I leaned back in the freezing park bench and sighed into the early morning air. Closing my eyes (Tylenol obviously still needed its formula improved), I tried to conjure up some believable resolution so I could finally get back to sleep (in my blessedly heated apartment).
"Dark, do you still think making New Year resolutions is just a waste of time?" She placed her head on my shoulder, her hair tickling my nose whenever I breathed. Her voice gave away nothing but I knew better than to lie to her.
I was tempted to, of course. What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't want to reassure her that I was well aware everyone believed in something (some admittedly stranger than others) and that I would never so much as consider judging her for believing in this type of nonsense? It wasn't like I could call myself perfect, right?
But who was I kidding? Riku read me like an open book.
"Definitely." I opened my eyes and met her gaze. "Riku, I just can't understand why you have to do this. And I can't fathom a justifiable reason why you've brought me out here in the middle of winter to make hollow promises you know I'd probably forget the minute I wake up later."
"You wouldn't," she said firmly. But then she paused and took a deep, shuddering breath. "So I still didn't change your mind then? After all these years?" She moved away from me and slumped into the bench. I sighed again, suppressing the urge to kick myself for being a jackass to her.
But better to be brutally honest than keeping her hopes up, right? Shit.
"What do you want me to say, Riku?" I asked instead, too chicken to say what I really wanted. But (I tried to convince myself) this was for her too. I could tell something's been bothering her since we arrived at the park. This was her chance to 'fess up and feel better (since she clearly didn't want to tell me on her own).
She kept her eyes on the snow at our feet and the condensation of her breath. I wasn't sure what to expect, really. This could be good, bad, painful, harmless, awkward, friendly and hell, a million other possibilities in the spectrum.
"I want you to say that you'll stop dating all these girls you can't care about, Dark," she whispered to the ground so softly that if I hadn't been only inches away there was no chance I could have heard her. "I want you to say that you'll try to find someone who you think you can settle down with. Someone who you can love…and—and make you happy. Someone like…" She shook her head and plowed on before I could ask the obvious question.
Someone like who, dammit?!
"We don't want you to be a bachelor for life, Dark." She took another deep breath, still not meeting my eyes.
I knew all of this already! This wasn't what was eating her up (if her eyes could be anything to go by) inside—at least, she wasn't telling me the entire truth. We've had arguments on this topic for years. In fact, I could probably type up a script from their regularity.
But, once again, before I could voice out my thoughts, she pressed the delete button on my thoughts and wiped my mind clean when she turned to me with sorrow and something I never thought could ever be associated with her warring in her hazel eyes.
And no matter how cheesy and clichéd this sounded, all I really wanted to do was to hold her in my arms (very tightly—for both good and wicked reasons) and tell her that I was there and she didn't have anything in the world to worry about. But how to go about it?
She didn't give me that much time though. Her next words held a trace of hysteria and my brows furrowed in concern. This couldn't possibly be good for her health. "I want you to say that you'll stop hurting me by not caring for yourself, I want you to say that you won't keep on arguing with me…because it…" Here she groaned. "I want you to say I don't have to feel so…not me anymore! God, Dark, I want you to say…I…"
Alright, this was where she told me this big un-her secret of hers and we could finally get somewhere. Not that I didn't have a good idea of what was on her mind—if she could read me like a book then rest assured, I wasn't oblivious when it came to her. It was elating, knowing that she might want to bring our friendship to the next level (God knew I'd wanted it long enough myself) but she needed to find the words and blurt it out.
But instead of finishing what she had to say (and what I wanted to hear) though, she stood up and completely caught me off guard.
I looked up at her and saw the confusion and hesitation (when did she ever hesitate on telling me anything?) on her face. To allow her to calm her down a little, I didn't stand up from my seat. "You want me to say what, 'Ku?"
Riku smiled (it looked just a little too strained at the edges though) then shook her head. "It's nothing." She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself. Not a good sign. "We should probably get home now. You're off the hook, you don't need to make a New Year's resolution this time."
She started to walk away right after her little announcement (which, truth be told, I didn't give a damn about). The question racing through my head now was, "Why the hell aren't I chasing her?!"
Damn it all, I knew should have just gone ahead and told her. Riku's never been one for romantic confessions after all. I could have killed two birds with one stone—comforting Riku and at last admitting I had feelings for her that were far from platonic. And I could have also added it somewhere there that I haven't been on a date since August (I never thought breaking off all connections with the modeling world could be so liberating).
So why wasn't my body following my brain's commands and pushing off from this damned bench and running after Riku again? To tell her what she had (quite possibly) waited a bit to hear?
It's like my (insert curse word here—I've got better things to worry about, in case you haven't noticed) blood's been replaced with lead and the snow's cemented me to my seat, frozen solid.
What the…?
--
I opened my eyes, blinking hard a few times at the insane (and I mean, insane—did I end up in a greenhouse last night or something?) amount of sunlight filtering into the room. And after running a hand through my hair, I promptly forced myself upright.
"Christ, what happened to me?" I mumbled incoherently, rubbing a hand over my bleary eyes. I grunted, throat still raw from sleep. "Where the hell am I?" I asked the (slightly familiar?) light-colored wall directly in front of me stupidly. This wasn't my room, that's for sure (and, as far as I could tell, it wasn't a greenhouse either).
Then suddenly, there was a soft moan from the bed behind me. My back stiffened. And when a slender, lightly tanned arm came around my waist, it took all my willpower to sit still and not run out of the room like a madman.
Alright, Dark, calm down—where were you last night? Bar? Hell no, even I had enough brain cells not to enter one of those again if I planned on keeping my fingers intact. Club? Uh, possibly. Party? Well, I lack the hangover I usually have after a party so that theory's shot.
What day was it today? Damn, when did I get so forgetful?
God Almighty.
January 1.
And I'm in my bedroom with some unknown female.
I groaned, closing my eyes in disbelief (and a good bit of self-repulsion). 'That's five months down the drain.'
I suppressed the urge to punch myself. This time, I sighed wearily. Might as well get the morning-after scene over with. But fuck it all, how could I have been so freaking careless?
I inhaled deeply and immediately noticed the soft flowery-slash-tropical fruit scent in the air. Not a horrible smell, but one I wished belonged to Riku than some one night stand (who shouldn't have been there in the first place). Still, I had to order my head look at the woman in my bed, although begrudgingly. I had wanted Riku to be the one I'd wake up beside for the foreseeable future. Not a complete stranger.
I almost pinched my arm.
'No way. It wasn't a dream?'
I felt a smile reaching my lips of its own accord. "Riku?" I whispered in the ear of the sleeping brunette at my left, wearing nothing but one of my favorite shirts. Hot damn, that has got to be the biggest (and hottest) turn-on in my life. And wouldn't I mind saying that more often.
The woman stirred almost imperceptibly. "Riku?" I called out again, unable to stop fully grinning at the sight of her grasping (vainly) at unconsciousness. I touched her cheek, just to make sure she was real and not a figment of my imagination. She wasn't.
"Dark…" she groaned sleepily, her voice still a bit hoarse. "Go back to sleep…"
I couldn't help myself, I swear. I bent my head and kissed her softly on the lips. It actually (and surprisingly, on my part, at least) felt natural, easy—as if I've been waking up beside Riku and kissing her on the lips for years.
Damn, this was what I've been missing all these years? Riku's paying me big-time for everything we missed.
Riku opened her eyes a few seconds later and blinked, taking the arm on my waist away to cover her eyes. She stretched, lifting her arms above her head and arching her back off the bed. Holy shit. A couple of buttons on my shirt opened and saw…
You don't really want me to go there. I might get carried away.
"You know, I was just joking when I told you to go back to sleep." She grinned up at me, shifting her position on the bed, and I looked straight into her eyes, drunkenly happy.
"You never did ask me what my New Year's resolution was this morning," I reminded her, lying back down and gathering her in my arms. We should have had that impromptu four AM outing years ago.
So this was what it felt like to be in love. And God, I must be in deep if that didn't sound half as cheesy as it used to.
She scrunched her nose at me and stuck out her tongue. Good to know she hadn't changed much. Of course, I'd like to have another go with that tongue of hers though. "You did a marvelous job distracting me. Can't blame me for that."
I smirked at her. Hmm, no, I really couldn't, could I?
So, in a noble act of gallantry, I started a trail of kisses down her neck to where my shirt started (then back up again) and slowly distracted her some more.
--
You gotta love 'em New Years resolutions.
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Confused? Me too. Don't worry, I'll be editing this soon. :D