Summary: Sora and Riku get into a fight. Riku learns the art of apologizing and Sora realizes that there's still hope for Riku's social skills. RxS one-shot

A/N: Slightly angsty at first but gets lighter throughout. Thanks to all the reviewers your words make me happy.

Arguments

By: KanesLight

His knuckles were white with the tightness of his clenched fists. His teeth were pressed so tightly together spots were beginning to form behind his eyes from all the pressure, all the heat that was pooling in his cheeks, from his slitted icy eyes.

"What was all that about Riku?" he shouted while throwing his hands into the air, "do you ever think of anyone besides yourself?" His left arm jerked to hold his waist and right hand was buried in his tangled locks.

"I think you're over-reacting," Riku's smooth voice hitched as his livid partner took another step toward him.

"Over-reacting?" he screamed, "god, you are such a jerk."

"Sora, really I didn't mean anything by it," his arms tightened around his chest as Sora dropped smoldering eyes to the faded linoleum on the floor.

"Then why did you say it? Why do you say things you know will tear others to shreds? Are you that thoughtless?" Sora was shaking but he wasn't going to cry. His fingers pulled hopelessly at his hair until his arm fell limply to his side.

"I don't know. He was hitting on you! He knew we were together and he was hitting on you! I just wanted him to stop! Isn't that a good enough reason?" His eyes were covered by his too long bangs and his fingers itched to push them away, to let Sora see the hurt in his glare.

"He wasn't hitting on me Riku..." Sora trailed off with a shake of his head, "he was trying to get together with Roxas. I was helping him..."

"But...he..." He backed up until the cold of his back met the ice of the wall, of Sora's eyes now staring straight through him.

"You just crushed Axel's heart and pushed Roxas away and I'm over-reacting?" Sora's words were colder than the winter surrounding them.

"I didn't know..."

"You just can't apologize can you?" He stumbled closer to Riku and smiled angrily at his lover, "it's impossible..."

"Sora, I..." Riku swallowed heavily glancing from the floor to the fading walls, the wooden table set, "I didn't mean it."

"Except you did," his sigh was almost as heavy as his footsteps, "am I still over-reacting?"

Riku grasped Sora's wrist. The brunet glared back at his lover and angrily tried to shake his wrist free. But even if it was a light grip, it was strong enough. Sora jerked once more and then pried away Riku's cold fingers.

Sora stomped from the kitchen and through the living room. The door creaked open and then slammed shut. Sora had left...again.

The clock was ticking much too slowly. Riku's fingers were numb and stinging nearly as bad as his eyes, but most importantly it had been several hours and Sora hadn't returned.

The phone rang and Riku reached slowly for the side table where it normally was to only grasp air. It was still ringing, so he buried his head in his knees. When the phone stopped ringing and the answering machine had probably kicked on he turned his head toward the bedroom where is was surely chirping out Sora's happy recording.

Sora didn't come that night.

The bed was still cold with three blankets.

Sora came home to an empty house. Riku wasn't sulking in the kitchen with some ice cream or wasting away in bed. He frowned but somethings had to be left alone, and Riku was one of those things.

It was mid afternoon before Sora decided to actually do something productive and with that thought in mind he headed out to the back garden. His poor garden that never bloomed in the spring let alone allowed for the stray weed to sprout up in the winter. Even his cactus had died shortly after being replanted.

It was cold even for a typical wintry day. The sunlight did little to warm anything and Sora had just about decided to give up and go back inside to wait for Riku when he caught sight of some flowers lying across the top of his dead garden.

The lilacs were already freezing and looking a bit worse for wear but he picked them up any way. He expected to find a note, but there was none. Only the cracked dirt underneath him and the withering flowers in his arms.

"I'm sorry," Riku yelled as he flung the door open. Sora glanced up sharply from the evening news and quickly rushed over to the other man.

"My god Riku, what happened?" he asked while gently prodding at Riku's bruised cheek and panicked expression. Riku's hands tore Sora's from his face and held them against his chest.

"I apologized to Axel, and Roxas." Riku's eyes darted to the floor, " and I'm sorry."

"You're cold," Sora frowned and tried to pull the other man inside. Riku shook his head frantically and his hands flew from Sora's to flutter about helplessly as he searched for words that wouldn't come.

"You don't understand," his teeth were chattering and the door was bumping him at every other burst of frigid air, "I'm sorry, for being a jerk, for being jealous, for everything. I'm sorry Sora."

Sora frowned again and reached out for Riku's hands once more. His lover allowed the gesture and hesitated for only a moment before following Sora into the living room. He was left for only a moment so Sora could close the front door.

"Who's over-reacting now?" Sora asked with the slightest smile. Riku felt his fingertips warming from the half hearted gesture.

"Who's being the jerk now?" Riku returned the smile and Sora just shook his head.

"You're a real pain," the brunet scratched softly at the back of his head before ruffling his companions frozen locks.

"Look who's talking," and that as they say was that.

"You are such a jerk," Sora screamed as he stomped his way to the kitchen.

"I think we've been through this before," Riku smiled slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"And I thought you'd have learned," Sora threw his hands up in the air, his eyes slitting with icy fire.

"Yeah, I thought so too," Riku lifted one hand to scratch lightly at his nose, "but I just can't help it."

"You're impossible."

"You over-react."

"Jerk."

"Drama queen."

"I- What? I am not a drama queen," Sora gripped tightly at his hair and looked up to find Riku nearly laughing, "It's not funny."

"Aw...but Sora," Riku rushed to Sora's side and gripped both hands in front of the smaller boy. He leaned in close to the squirming boy's ear and whispered, "you're so cute when you're angry."

"I really hate you," Sora's glare was lost in the heat of his blush.

"Is that what they're calling it nowadays?" Riku leaned in a stole a quick kiss from chapped and tightly compressed lips.

"Did you learn anything from the last time?" Sora's frown deepened with thoughts of the frantically apologizing boy of a few months ago and the newly re-confident boy in front of him.

"Yeah, that apologizing gets you punched and you're very cute when you get mad," at Riku's sagely nod Sora pushed him to the ground, "oh and lilacs right all wrongs."

"No ice cream for a month," Sora growled as he crashed his mouth to his lovers. Riku's response was lost in the ensuing tussle.

"How's the home life?" Axel asked around a mouthful of strawberry ice cream.

"Better..."Riku eyed the delicious treat as the red head devoured each and every morsel.

"Roxas still doesn't like you," Axel pointed the spoon at Riku, "but I think you're alright, considering how sweet you were to let me hit you, sweet like this ice cream that Sora told Roxas to tell me not to let you have any of." Riku was pouting and Axel was too busy laughing to notice.

"You know what they say," Riku frowned as he searched for the right words, "make-up sex is the best kind of sex."

It wasn't until Axel had chocked on his ice cream that Riku realized that probably was the wrong thing to say.

Roxas thought so too.

"Axel told me what happened," Sora announced as Riku walked through the front door, "there's nothing to be done for you, is there?"

Riku chuckled as he plopped down next to Sora on their couch, "Not really."

Sora sighed but the way he saw it Riku had many talents, he just happened to have really bad people skills and really there was nothing for it. Especially since he usually is right even if it is at the wrong times.

"You're such a jerk." Sora sighed as he leaned into his lover.

"Yeah but you love me any way." And Sora realized that maybe there was hope for Riku yet.

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