Summary [AU] Sora gives up everything he knows to be with his boyfriend, only to be dumped and abandoned. Sora struggles to piece together a new life for himself with the help of those around him - including a brazen new boss, his rampaging brother, and the friends that get caught in-between. But as they help Sora put together his life, they realize maybe their own lives need a bit of work, too.
Pairings Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas and Cloud/Leon - I have the story listed under Sora & Riku, since Sora kinda sets the foundation of the story, but I hope to spend just as much time on all three couples. x)
Disclaimer I don't own Kingdom Hearts or these characters - the original inspiration from this story also came from The Ramen Girl, which, if you've never seen it, is totally worth watching. :D
Rated M for later chapters!
[1]
The tram jostled slightly as it rumbled through Twilight Town, and Sora glanced around anxiously. It had been three weeks since he'd moved to the city, and the sprawling areas and rush of activity still daunted him. He was used to the slowness and general calm of his home back on Destiny Island, where he'd grown up and gone to school. But he had given that up, left behind the life he knew, and moved to Twilight Town for love. He would have done anything for Marluxia, whom he'd met only his second day of college.
After dating all through university, they had promised they'd make their relationship work after graduation. But when Marluxia's work took him away from the islands and off to bustling Twilight Town, that suddenly became a much harder promise to keep. Long distance was stressful, and it weighed on Sora's heart every day. Now, though, they were finally together again.
Deep blue eyes flickered over to the clock fastened to the high wall of the tram, and a small frown tugged at Sora's lips when he saw that he was already late. He'd agreed to meet Marluxia at a club, but hadn't counted on getting lost. After getting turned around countless times, he'd finally gotten himself on the right tram.
The car slowly rolled to a stop on the lower side of town, where most of the bars and clubs were located. Sora filed out behind a group of teenagers, somewhat nervously looking around. Thankfully, just a short ways down the street he spotted the club, marked by a bright neon monstrosity reading Wonderland. He quickly made his way inside, only to be greeted with a mass of people. It took a little bit of time, but thankfully Marluxia's unusual pink hair made him easy enough to find in the crowd.
Sora had been hoping for a night out with his boyfriend; even since he'd moved out to Twilight Town, they'd had very little together time. Unfortunately, when he reached the table where Marluxia stood beckoning, there were three others gathered around the high-top table as well. After a brief introduction, they returned to their conversation, leaving Sora to try and figure out what on earth they were talking about.
The night dragged on with cruel sluggishness, Sora's normally exuberant personality stifled by the awkwardness of unfamiliarity. Marluxia was constantly running off and leaving him, wanting to talk to this friend or that friend or make a new business contact. Finally, though, late into the night, Marluxia returned and slipped an arm around Sora's waist.
"Sorry, love. Business, you know." The strong scent of alcohol washed over Sora as Marluxia leaned close to speak to him.
Immediately, though, Sora brushed it all off and smiled brightly. "It's no problem," he assured cheerfully.
Both of Marluxia's arms wrapped around him, one hand splayed over his abdomen and the other slowly drifting to his inner thigh. "Mm, babe, the things I want to do to you," he murmured lowly, causing the shorter boy to laugh and blush. "Let's get out of here."
The trams had stopped running, meaning they had to catch a cab back to the apartment. Twenty minutes later, Sora struggled to pull his now nearly-comatose boyfriend out of the taxi, the taller man's weight nearly tipping him over. Before he did end up tripping to the ground, however, Marluxia's heavy weight suddenly lessened. Looking over, Sora saw that another man had grabbed Marly's other side, supporting most of his weight on strong shoulders. Layered chunks of brown hair fell around the man's face and shoulders, messy bangs partially obscuring stormy grey eyes and a most peculiar scar.
"Ah, thanks," Sora grinned, relieved when he recognized the helper. He'd only briefly met Leon a few days ago, and his next-door-neighbor had quickly struck him as the loner type. But he was grateful for the help, and the two began the journey of carrying Marluxia up to the fourth floor. So much for sex tonight, he thought, trying to blow Marluxia's long hair out of his face.
Sora awoke slowly, carefully blinking bright eyes open against the glare of sunlight intruding through the window. As he rustled to sit up, the first thing he noticed was that he was very much alone in bed. At the sounds of movement out in the living room, he quickly got to his feet and walked out to find Marluxia.
"Marl...? What's going on?" he asked, face pulled in confusion as he looked at the scene before him. A bag sat in the middle of the living room floor, while Marluxia currently finished packing up the last suitcase. At Sora's voice, the pink-haired man glanced over, but wasn't to be distracted from what he was doing.
"Oh, Sora. I got a call from my boss. They want me working on a project over in Traverse Town. I've already got a train ticket, I have to be there right away," he explained hastily as he pulled the zipper on the luggage. A beeping cell phone then grabbed his attention, and he snatched it up to check the latest email from his boss.
"You're...already leaving again? Well, I can come with you this time! I mean, I'm still looking for a job, so I won't be missing anything. We'll be able to explore Traverse Town together." Sora smiled, already starting to get excited about the trip.
"You can't come with me," Marluxia immediately protested. "It's going to be all work, I won't have any time for you. Seriously, it'll be no fun for you, and I have to focus on work."
"Well...how long will you be gone? Is it just a few days?"
Marluxia sighed heavily, pocketing his phone and finally turning his focus to Sora. "I don't know, Sor," he admitted, "it could be a few weeks, or maybe even a few months."
"So, what? That's it? You're just running off and leaving me here?" Sora asked slowly, brows knitting together in consternation. Was this...really happening? This couldn't possibly be real, it just couldn't.
"Look, Sor...I thought it'd be cool, you moving out here with me. But, honestly, I'm just not sure about it anymore. I need to be focused on my job right now, and I don't really have time to keep up our relationship. It's just a really hectic point in my life, you know? This is what I need to do."
Sora still stood in the doorway, struggling to find the words to say. He watched as Marluxia hoisted his bag over one shoulder and picked up his suitcase, tears quickly welling in his eyes. Now this seriously had to be a dream. Marly wouldn't do this to him. After everything they'd been through, there was no way it was ending like this.
As Marluxia started for the apartment door, he followed after him, only just barely managing to wrap his mind around what was happening. "But, I love you. Please don't just run off like this. Marluxia. You're just moving out and leaving me again?"
"I really can't have this conversation right now, Sora, I'm going to miss my train. If you love me, you'll understand. I have to go. But I didn't say I'm never coming back." The pink-haired man stopped just before the door, half-turning to look back at his boyfriend. "Don't be sad, okay? We'll see how long this project takes."
And without another word, or really any of goodbye, he was gone.
Sora stood alone in the apartment, struck with the whiplash of Marluxia's abrupt and heartless departure from his life. The tears began to fall, and once they started, there was no stopping them.
"Hey, Marly, it's me again. This morning...everything happened so fast. Could you please just call me back? Let's talk about this, okay? I love you."
Sora ended the call, slipping his cell phone into his back pocket once again. That was the fifth message he'd left already, and he'd still yet to hear anything from the other man since that morning. It was already autumn and the air was chilly, but Sora barely noticed - he'd been mindlessly wandering the streets of the city for hours. He was nearly back to the apartment now when a sudden crashing noise and loud shouting caught his attention.
"Well if you'd just done it right the first time, I wouldn't have to do it again! You know what? You're fired! That's right, get the hell out! I'd do better business hiring a damn monkey instead of you!"
Someone burst out of the building directly to Sora's right, and nearly bowled him over in their angry rush. Startled, Sora stumbled to the side, eyes wide as he looked at what was apparently a bakery right next to him.
He hadn't gotten a look at the worker who'd run past, but the man now standing in the bakery's doorway had to be one of the strangest creatures he'd ever seen. The man towered over Sora's own short stature, his body solid but lanky. He had a shock of firetruck red hair, as if a very angry porcupine had just crawled atop his head one day and simply decided to stay there. His face was still slightly red - he'd clearly been the one just yelling. Purple tattoos stained his flushed cheeks just below his eyes, which were a bright acidic green and promptly shifted to look at Sora.
"Heh, you want a job, kid?" he asked sardonically, clearly not expecting an actual answer from the passerby.
Yet, given his situation - alone in a nice, two-bedroom apartment with no job - Sora wasn't going to make light of any opportunity. "Sure, if you're offering," he answered seriously, expression as open and innocent as ever.
The bakery owner blinked, caught off guard, and pushed out his lips in a moment of thought. "Okay. Guess you can't be worse than that last idiot. Be here at six tomorrow morning." He then turned away and shut the door behind him, flipping the 'open' sign to 'closed' without any further discussion.
For the second time that day, Sora felt as if he'd just been suckerpunched...or hit by a high-speed bus. He'd lost the love of his life in a matter of minutes, and now he had a job in seconds. He promptly decided that the city was very, very weird.
I'll put up the second chapter, since it's nearly done, wherein Roxas and Cloud make their appearances!
Please let me know what you think~! (:
