Double or Nothing;
Disclaimer – Don't own anything you're about to read here. Except for the idea and the actual file of the story, the characters however aren't mine because I didn't create them and I have yet to conquer the world so the places aren't mine either.
Umm...for anyone who's reading this who has read Fellowship of the Key...don't worry it's slowly being worked on. It's just a really big project and I am currently in the middle of watching the second disc of Fellowship of the Ring (extended version) again so I can get most of my facts straight (it's easier than rereading the book).
ANYWAYS, this one is for my friend The Annoying Voice who is in the process of helping me with my original novel by nitpicking every single detail that I mess up on. Hope you like it! Since the only thing I ran by you prior to this was the summary and title.
"Sora, hurry up! We're going to be late."
"Coming!" The brunet huffed as he stared at himself in the mirror. For once in his twenty years of life he would have liked it if his unruly hair would just stay...well, ruled. It didn't seem to matter how much gel, hairspray, or time spent with a hair-straightener, it always seemed to just bounce back into the mass of spikes it usually was, "...maybe I should just get it all chopped off." He grumbled, toying with one of the larger spikes in the front.
"Nah, you won't do that. You love your hair too much, and I do too." Kairi smiled at him in the mirror. Sora jumped and turned around,
"When did you get in here?"
"Well, I called for you about ten minutes ago and you said you were coming. I came to make sure you weren't back in the shower washing out hair products." She let out a soft laugh as she brushed auburn hair out of her face. She was dressed in her usual pink dress with a white tank top underneath, but instead of wearing her yellow sneakers she had on white dress shoes, and she was wearing glittery makeup. She was beautiful, and Sora had been ecstatic when she had said yes to marrying him. Now the wedding was two nights away and everything was all set. Tonight was just going to be the two of them, a nice dinner, and a walk on the beach.
"Sorry...I am ready now though." He turned to exit the bathroom Kairi followed behind him and took his hand when they walked down the stairs.
They left the house and made their way to the restaurant. Sora looked around was the waiter brought them to their seats and explain the specials of the day, while passing them the menus. He didn't like these fancy restaurants, they made him feel uncomfortable and sick to his stomach –even the food made him feel ill...and Sora loved food, almost more than he loved Kairi.
"And how are the two lovebirds this evening?" The voice purred out in a half teasing tone. Sora didn't need to look up to see the green eyes and crazy red hair. Crazy red hair that can be pulled back into a ponytail and look halfway presentable... Sora grumbled to himself as he looked at the waiters face in the reflection of his spoon. Kairi giggled,
"Hi Axel, I didn't know you worked here."
"Just started," he sighed and shook his head, fingers twitching to loosen his tie, "Roxas was starting to get annoyed that I wasn't working and threatened me in...very unfit for this environment reasons." He chuckled, "I don't like it all that much, the uniform I mean, but rich people are surprisingly nice and tip well. Plus, Roxy loves the suit."
"I'm sure he does." Sora chuckled, thinking about how easy his little brother was to get flustered. Roxas wasn't that much younger than Sora, and hated the fact that his parents had told them which one of them had come out first. Yes. Sora and Roxas were twins, though to look at them you wouldn't exactly be able to guess it. Sora was slightly tanned and had brown hair while Roxas was slightly paler than tan and had blond hair, but the two of them had the same dazzling blue eyes. Their eyes were the reason that their love interests fell so deeply, so trapped in the depth of blue. Sora's was like staring at the sky, while Roxas's was like gazing out at the ocean.
"He really does. But enough about that for now, are you two ready to order?"
Kairi shook her head, "Could you give us a few more minutes, Ax?"
"Sure thing," he grinned and walked off to wait on the next table, Sora could just barely hear him say "My name's Axel, got it memorized? I'll be your server for tonight..." and he couldn't help but let out a low chuckle as he glanced over his menu.
"I am so happy that Axel has a job now. Roxas is really turning his life around." Kairi smiled, playing with the locket of her necklace as she too scanned the pages of the menu. Sora nodded in agreement, though if she had said something along those lines only six months before Sora would have completely disagreed with her.
At first he hadn't liked Axel. The red head was unemployed, drank too much, smoked too much, cursed too much, and always smelled like weed. Sora felt that Axel was using his brother for what little money the university student had, and was slowly going to turn the little blond into a junkie just like him. But now, just six months later, Axel and Roxas were still together. Axel was cleaned up...for the most part, he still smoked and drank, but nowhere near as much and as far as Sora knew he didn't do weed anymore, but he still cursed like a sailor –that bad habit Roxas did start to pick up, though he was still far behind his ginger boyfriend.
Dinner was an almost silent affair. Sora had gotten a garden salad with chicken and roasted almonds with shrimp, and Kairi had ordered herself a lobster salad. They had gotten a bottle of ice wine to share and ate in the comfortable silence that settled around them, the atmosphere of the restaurant filling in the gaps for them. After they ate, Sora collected and paid for the bill while his fiancée went to freshen up in the bathroom. When he saw the bill, the brunet decided that nights such as these would be for special occasions only, such as their anniversary. Once she was out, he smiled at her and took her hand. They both waved goodbye to Axel and headed out into the night. Sora hailed a cab and the two of them headed towards the beach.
o0o
It was a beautiful night. The sky was clear, out this far from the city, all the stars could be seen and the moon, though only a quarter, was shining brightly. Kairi had taken off her heels so that she could feel the sand beneath her feet and between her toes, a smile played on her lips as she intertwined her fingers with Sora's,
"I love this..." she whispered, looking out as the water slowly started to back away, as the tide went back out. She looked back at Sora and her smile was slightly wider and with a soft giggle she leaned in to kiss him.
"I love you." They said it at the same time, and Kairi fell into a fit of soft giggles as she leaned against him. Sora wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close, resting his chin on the top of her head and breathed in the mixed scent of the beach, Kairi's bubblegum perfume. They stayed like that for a while, neither one of them bothering to check the time. It wasn't until Kairi started to shiver and Sora gave her his coat that the two of them headed back to their house. Neither one of them expected to find what they did.
Kairi pointed IT out, being the first to notice. Sora looked over and raised his eyebrow. There, sitting on the front steps was a man. He had his head bowed and resting in his hands, elbows balanced on his knees. Sora wasn't able to tell if the man was asleep, but as the two homeowners got closer, he stirred and looked up at them,
"Sor, Kai," came the small, tired, voice, though the person himself was almost unrecognizable in the dark, the other two knew that voice. Kairi ran forward and hugged him,
"Riku!" She let out a happy cry and kissed his cheek, "Where have you been? It's been years!" She stood up and unlocked the door, "Come in, come in, I'll get changed and put a pot of coffee on. Sora come on." Walking in, she failed to notice that the two men didn't follow her.
Sora stood, frozen in his spot as he looked over his best friend. They had been friends since they were small children, though Riku was a few years older than himself –that hadn't mattered. Riku had always been there for Sora and Sora had always been there for him. Or at least that was how it was supposed to be. Riku had gotten himself mixed in with a pretty bad crowd in his teens. A gang that liked to call themselves The Heartless, they were your typical gang. Owned certain parts of the city, ran illegal activities, dealt with the dealings of narcotics. And it wasn't just in this city either, The Heartless where spread all over the country. They were always on the news and Sora had been waiting with baited breath for the day when Riku's face and name came on the television, saying that he was dead or in jail for some heinous crime.
Riku stood up and looked over at the brunet; Sora turned his head away and cast his eyes to the ground, "Sora..."
"Don't...please...don't," he sighed and walked past him and into the house, Riku followed him.
"Nice place..." The silver haired man noted with a small smile. The living room was the first room that he walked into through the door, it wasn't big but it was laid out to be used to its full capabilities. There was an entertainment stand on the far wall, on it was a nice sized television and a DVD player on the top shelf, the sides of the stand were CD holders and filled with DVD's and music CD's. In front of that was a nice leather sofa and between the sofa and the stand was a nice dark wood coffee table that was currently home to Kairi's schoolbooks, Sora's mug, and other decorative knickknacks that Kairi had picked up along the way. On the wall adjacent to the TV was a fair sized window that was surrounded with pictures. Pictures of all of them, there were ones of Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Axel, Kairi's younger sister Naimine, separate or in random groups, "...what's going here?" Riku asked as he pointed to decent sized space in the middle of the wall,
Kairi looked over as she walked in from the kitchen, setting a tray of steaming mugs on cup holders on the table, "Sora and mine's wedding photo."
"Wedding...photo?" Riku looked over at Sora, who still wasn't looking at him, "Sora...Sora we had a deal."
Kairi raised an elegant eyebrow, "A deal?" She looked at Sora, who looked like he was about to break down and she couldn't find it in her heart to get upset, at the moment. "Sora, darling...what does Riku mean?"
Sora took a deep breath, addressing Riku first, "You...brought this on yourself when you decided to vanish from the face of the planet. I didn't know where the hell you where or what you were doing or if you were even still alive! Two years, Riku, I waited two years for you and you never came back. You never even once called or wrote a letter." He took a shaky breath, "During that time, Kairi and I grew closer, a lot closer. And I...I fell in love with her and...I asked her to marry me."
"But...what deal did you make with Riku?" She still wanted to know, though she didn't feel threatened by anything, not after the speech that Sora had just given, and deep down she felt as though she knew what the deal had been,
"Riku and I...made the deal when we were in high school that...we'd move to Europe together once we had saved enough money." Okay, so that wasn't what Kairi had thought, "But..."
"But then I pulled a Houdini, and now you hate me," Riku sighed and took a step forward, "But Sora...I still love you."
Kairi let out an audible gasp and almost dropped the mug that she was holding –thankfully she hadn't spilt any on herself. Sora's eyes went wide and just stared, he took another shaky breath and shook his head, "No you don't, Riku, and I don't feel that way about you anymore either. We were teenagers. I was confused about what I wanted. But I am not anymore." He put a comforting hand on Riku's shoulder, and saw Kairi recompose herself on the sofa, smiling at the brunet. "If you want, you're more than welcome to come to the wedding...I still need my best man."
"I thought you already talked to Roxas?" Kairi blinked,
"I did. He still hasn't gotten back to me on it." Sora chuckled softly.
Riku sighed, eyes downcast and hidden behind a curtain of dirty silver. Now that Sora got a real good look at him, Riku's clothes were torn and his skin was caked in dirt and dried blood. "I'll do it."
Sora beamed, and it broke Riku's heart a little more, "Awesome! We'll go and get your tux tomorrow...for now you can go have a shower and sleep on the couch...since I'm guessing that no one else knows you're here?"
Riku shook his head, "No one...I haven't even called my parents."
Sora nodded, "Alright. Well...go take a shower, you stink." He teased and Riku cracked a small smile.
"I'll show you to the bathroom, Sor, get him something he can sleep in." Kairi stood up, a smile on her own lips as she lead Riku through the hallway.
o0o
Riku stepped into the shower and sighed. Feeling the hot water run over his aching body felt wonderful. The steam filled the bathroom pretty quickly and within a few minutes he felt like he was in a sauna. But he needed it. He winced when the water splashed on his back, and over his cuts and bruises. They were his fault. It had been stupid of him to run off in practically the middle of the night and join a gang. He had been young, stupid, and in love –with both the idea and the person. He had it all figured out in his head; he'd get in, strike it big, run off with loads of cash and go into hiding after giving all the information he could to the police without getting himself in trouble. From there he had planned to take Sora to a small town somewhere in the European countryside, maybe even somewhere exotic like Japan. Sora had liked the idea. Well, the part about moving to Europe. He loved the culture and the people. He had once told Riku that he and his parents had gone there on vacation once and it had been love. He often joked that if he could marry a country it would be Europe. That had been the plan. But it seemed as though he had screwed that up, as well as his love of the person. Sora...with his chocolate brown hair, perfect tanned skin, and blue eyes as bright, shining, and endless as the afternoon sky. Riku held in a groan, this wasn't his shower –he wasn't going to think like that here. He had done that plenty of times. Besides, his hands were too sore and swollen from fighting.
There was a knock on the door and it brought him out of his thoughts, "Yeah?" He called, a little louder than his throat would have liked him too so he could be heard over the shower,
"It's me..." Sora's voice came in as he opened the door a little, "I'm just going to set these on the toilet seat...they might be a little short in the legs but they'll be comfier than what you were wearing before."
"Sor..." he started, just as the younger man was about to exit the room, "...Thanks."
"It's what best friends do...they take care of one another." And with that he closed the door, leaving Riku to finish his shower in a now deathly silence that even the sound of the water pounding around him couldn't break.
o0o
"This is a very nice thing that you're doing for Riku." Kairi smiled as Sora sat on the couch next to her. He didn't have to say anything, and he wasn't going to, as she curled up next to him. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm, staring at the blank screen of the TV he couldn't help but wonder why now, why after all these years, now with only two days before the wedding, Riku decided to come back into the picture. He had been all set to move away with the silver haired man, Sora had even withdrawn all his applications to universities so that he could go. Then Riku disappeared like a ghost and left Sora screwed. He was still working the same job he had been since sixteen, at a retail store –only now he was assistant manager instead of just a store front. He had hated Riku for the longest time, hated him for leaving Sora behind when he thought the two of them had been best friends and then more than that. But it seemed to the brunet that he had just been another moment in Riku's romantic life, which weren't uncommon. Riku had been known around their high school as a playboy, sleeping with girls and guys and whoever else asked.
Sora was brought out by the sound of Kairi laughing. He hadn't heard her say anything so he was about to ask what was so funny, when he saw Riku. He was wearing the pyjama bottoms that Sora had given him, they were a few inches too short in the legs and they looked ridiculous on him. Sora couldn't help but let out his own chuckle,
"They are comfortable though." Riku grinned slightly. He felt a lot better now that he was clean, but he still felt a pang in his chest when he saw Sora and Kairi cuddling on the couch. The two of them stood up, Kairi kissed Sora's cheek and then Riku's as she said goodnight and made her way up the stairs to the bedroom. Sora started to walk off in the same direction but stopped when Riku put his hand on his shoulder, "Sora..."
"You already said thank you enough times tonight. Kairi brought you down some blankets and a pillow...I'll see you in the morning." He turned to pull away. Riku grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close, Sora could feel his heart start to race as his neck warmed from Riku's breath –which still smelt as bad as the older man used to. "Riku...let go of me." His voice was soft and pleading, Riku felt another string snap in his heart and let go, he didn't want to lose Sora as his friend also. "Goodnight...Riku."
"Goodnight...Sora..." Riku sighed and slumped on the couch as he watched the brunet walk up the stairs. Neither of them got any sleep that night.
o0o
Morning came a little too quickly. Sora felt like he was just falling asleep when the alarm went off besides him. He faintly remembered hearing Kairi rush around and get ready before giving him a quick kiss, say something about a tux, and then ducked out of the apartment for her morning class. It was a good half an hour later before Sora pulled himself out of bed and dragged himself across the hall and to the bathroom. A ten minute shower and another ten minutes glaring at his hair in the mirror and Sora was dressed and ready for the day. He made his way down stairs with a little bounce in his step, a little bounce that almost made him fall down the stairs as he saw who was still asleep on his couch. It took him a moment, but then all the events of the other night came flooding back to him, and here he thought that it had all been one of those dreams that you can't tell if they're supposed to be bad or good.
"So...are you just going to stand there and stare at me all morning?" Riku's voice broke through his thoughts and snapped him back to attention. The silver hair was still splayed across the pillow, indicating that Riku had yet to lift his head, but that didn't mean he wasn't awake. Sora shook his head,
"Of course not," he finished walking down the steps and headed for the kitchen. Riku got up and followed.
"How are you and Kairi affording this place?"
"Help from our parents...and once Kairi's finished school and working the mortgage will become our full responsibility."
"Sounds...like it will be fun."
"It will be."
"I was being sarcastic."
"And I was being serious. Riku, I've managed to put my life back together and not with the choices that I had originally chose. And I am happy again."
Riku sighed, "Alright...I'm sorry."
Sora nodded, "Kairi...washed your clothes this morning. Get dressed so we can get your tux."
Riku did as he was told, and soon enough the two of them were walking down the street. Sora wasn't entirely sure why Riku had put his hair up and underneath a baseball cap, but figured that it had something to do with not wanting people to know he was in town, which raised one more question,
"Riku..." Sora started and waited until Riku had looked over at him before continuing, "If you don't want anyone to know you're here...why'd you agree to be my best man?"
"Because I want to make a scene," and it was back. He was back. The old Riku, from high school, who liked to cause harmless mischief and get people worked up for no reason whatsoever, with his devil may care attitude and hippy hair –as Sora's dad used to say. But most importantly it was this Riku, with the confident smirk and aquamarine eyes that seemed to swallow you up, that Sora fell in love with in junior year of high school. The one his stupid, sixteen year old brain thought that it would be a good idea to jump for even though he didn't know what he was getting himself into.
"Try not to cause too big of one. It is supposed to be Kairi's day." Sora turned his head and waited for the light to turn green before he crossed the street. He could hear Riku behind him, and he could hear that he was speaking but he couldn't make out the words. Not that he cared at the moment, Sora just wanted tomorrow to be over with so Riku could disappear again. Or that's what he thought in the beginning.
As the late morning turned into the afternoon, Sora was becoming more relaxed. Running around from shop to shop with Riku felt too much like the old times for him to stay depressed. At the end of their time downtown they had managed to pick up the tux, along with a few other articles of clothing for the taller and more built man, and a few odds and ends. They had even rented a movie and picked up a pizza. They talked about everything on the way back to the house, but when Sora mentioned The Heartless, Riku froze and went silent. His eyes iced over and he directed his look at the ground. Sora apologized and went silent himself. Leaving the rest of the walk in an awkward silence that was only broken once they had returned to the house.
Kairi wasn't home yet. Having classes until late into the day, she wouldn't be returning for a few more hours. Sora set the pizza on the coffee table and grabbed two beers from the fridge, brining out one for him and one for Riku. Sitting on the couch he pressed the power button on the remote for the TV and was about to get up and put the movie on when Riku pushed him back down, "I'll get it," he smiled. Sora smiled back.
Half way through the movie Riku paused it and turned to face Sora, who was looking at him with a confused expression on his face. Riku didn't say anything. Instead, he leaned over and kissed him.
Sora's mind went blank. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do and was hoping that Riku didn't expect him to return the action. At least...not right away it seemed. Riku wasn't put off by the lack of response and instead tried harder, but kept the kiss as soft as the built up passion would allow him too. Sora's body felt like it was moving on its own. He could feel his arms moving up to encircle Riku's shoulders, he could feel his fingers playing with the soft hair at the nape of his neck, and he could feel himself being pushed down into the couch as Riku laid over him. Sora could feel Riku's breathe on his neck and he heard the moan that escaped his lips and then –no. He tried to sit up, putting his hands on Riku's chest and pushed, "I-I can't...Kairi..."
Riku sat up, "Sora, I love you."
"Stop saying that...you can't love me..."
"And why not?" He growled.
"Because I'm getting married tomorrow, that's why."
"That's no reason for me not to love you. And if it takes a wedding we'll go to Vegas and have someone dressed like Mickey to do the ceremony."
"N-No...that's not it. That's not the point. And it's every reason, because it's why I don't love you."
Riku raised an eyebrow, "So if you weren't getting married, you'd be able to love me?"
Sora blinked and then mulled over in his head what he had just said. Yes it seemed as though that's what he said but he wasn't sure he had completely meant it, Yes you did, his heart told his brain and the brunet let out a soft sigh, "No...Riku."
"You always where a horrible liar."
"Please don't...I don't want to hurt Kairi the same way you hurt me."
"I never left you at the altar."
"Not a physical one." He sighed and Riku looked at the floor, just noticing that it was wooden.
"I didn't mean to..." Was the response that he came up with five minutes later, before he turned the movie back on.
o0o
The rest of the night had gone by smoothly. Once Kairi had returned home everything seemed to click back into place. Riku didn't make any more moves on Sora and Sora never said anything about it to the woman he was going to marry in less than twenty-four hours.
Then bedtime came. Sora laid in bed, for the second night in a row, and stared at the ceiling. He felt awful, especially when he could feel Kairi's presence, as she curled up and laid her head on his chest and he put his arm around her. This was supposed to be perfect. Everything had been perfect and now where he was on the eve of his wedding night, lying in bed with his soon-to-be wife cuddled next to him thinking about his best friend who was sleeping on the couch downstairs in a way that he hadn't thought about him in years; as more than just friends.
This had to end. Sora had to be the one to end it –and tomorrow he would. He closed his eyes, and with a sigh attempted to sleep. After all tomorrow was a big day.
o0o
Morning came and went in a blur. First Kairi was cooking breakfast and all smiles and giggles and then she was being whisked away by her best friend, and maid of honour, Selphie. Sora had been confused at first but then had seen the time. There was less than ten hours before the wedding.
In a flurry of movements that the brunet wasn't even to keep track of, him and Riku were in cars and out of cars. Suddenly they were joined by a surprised Roxas and an even more surprised Axel –though one look from Riku had the red head swallowing whatever comment he was going to make. Next thing Sora knew he was in his tux and standing at the altar, looking out at all the filled seats of guests, friends and family all who had been surprised, though not entirely happy, to see Riku again.
Then the music started to play. Everyone stood up and looked towards the halls. Sora felt his heart in his throat as he watched Kairi walk down the aisle. She was wearing a white, strapless, dress that was covered in tiny snowflakes. Her hair was pulled up and the whiteness of the vale made her auburn hair stick out more in an amazing contrast. And she was smiling her pearly white teeth at him.
Sora tuned in and out as the minister spoke, reading the same lines from the same book that was used at every wedding, even ones done in movies. Kairi had wanted them to write their own vows, but with school, work, and the rest of the wedding neither of them had had the time so they just recited the given ones. Then came the part that Sora had been dreading, but he knew that deep down he could do this. After all, he loved Kairi and he didn't want to hurt her. In the corner of his eye he saw Riku as he looked at the floor, trying not to seem like his world was just furthering itself into oblivion.
"And do you, Sora Ryer take Kairi Watkins to be your wife?"
The room went silent as everyone waited for Sora's answer. It should have come out in a second, that unquestionable yes as he smiled at her and she smiled at him and then they kissed. But it didn't happen like that. He hesitated, Sora's eyes traveled from Kairi's worried expression to Riku's hopeful one. And all of a sudden he didn't know what to do anymore. He couldn't understand how someone could be back in his life for two days and ruin everything that he had worked for in three years. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth.
"I...can't." He turned to Kairi, tears streaming down her face. The audience was in shock. Sora sighed softly and held her close, "I love you Kairi...I really do. But I can't marry you anymore." He was expecting her to push him away, expecting her to start hitting him and yelling. He wasn't expecting her to pull away and have a small hint of a smile under her tears,
"I'll be fine...I-I hope you two stay safe and don't disappear."
Sora kissed her forehead, "I promise to keep in touch. And you'll all have to come visit."
"We will, bro." Roxas sighed coming to stand beside them. The rest of the guests started to leave. Kairi went with Selphie, after the brunette had told her that her mother had passed out and her father was sitting with her in the car. Axel and Roxas both left together and soon it was just Sora and Riku standing at the church altar.
"Do you, Sora Ryer?"
"Do you, Riku Solomon?"
They both stared at each other before breaking out in twin grins, Riku wrapped his arms around Sora's waist and kissed him. This time the action was fully returned from the bottom of the brunet's heart, because he knew Riku wasn't going anywhere with out him.
There we go. Hope you enjoyed it. R'n'R would be greatly loved.