Times Like This

by xStillxInxLovex

Everything begins to get monotonous when you’ve got a boyfriend that doesn’t seem interested anymore, yet keeps holding on, and a brother that cant get three seconds away from his boyfriend. What's a guy to do when he's in love and the worst is happening?

1. Tension

A/N: This is my new story, everyone! I've been working on this one for awhile, and I'm excited to release it. Forgive me if there are grammar mistakes, it's hard to revise a chapter as long as this! But anyway, I planned this story as three parts, but the second part is going to be really long and full of actioney stuff, so I might have to split that one in two parts (haha, and that will make the editing process easier for me). Anways, this is long, and I hope you like it!

Summary: Everything begins to get monotonous when you've got a boyfriend that doesn't seem interested anymore, yet keeps holding on, and a brother that can't get three seconds away from his horny boyfriend. What's a guy to do when he's in love, and the worst is happening? RiSo

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Part 1 of 3:

Tension

Sora took another bite from the quickly dwindling bag of Doritos and unbuttoned his pants, feeling fatter by the second. He was currently working on his second bag within two hours, and the future of the victims in the horror movie he was watching looked as bleak as ever. Before he dug back into the unforgiving bag of chips, he checked the clock for about the third time in fifteen minutes. Riku, usually being home around 1 am, was later than usual tonight with the time being 2:30. Sora sighed yet again, and then went back to watching the movie just as someone's head was hacked off. The movie abruptly went into credits, and Sora grimaced.

"That was the lamest horror movie I have ever seen…" He mumbled this at his cat, Autumn, who was lying on the arm of the couch snoring. When he got no response from her, he looked at the bag of Doritos. After a long few minutes of deliberation, he decided it best to put the snack food away. If he was at the point where he had to unbutton his too-tight pants then there was obviously a problem. With a discontented sigh he dug around in the couch for the chip clip, folded the bag down, and then clipped it. He was about to walk the bag back over the pantry, but the door of the one-bedroom apartment opened in the squeaky way of someone who was attempting to sneak in.

It was Riku. He was opening the door slowly to try and keep it from making noise. Every time the door would make a loud squeak he would pause for a moment, and then continue slowly. He managed to open the door entirely and shift in before he finally looked up and realized that Sora was starting at him.

"Hi." He waved quickly then moved his hand to the back of his head to pull his fingers through his hair: the thing he did when he was nervous. "Yeah… thought you were asleep… so…"

Sora was quiet for a moment. "I thought I should stay up, and you know; see if you were okay… you were later than normal." Sora quickly added another comment, "N-Not that I really watch the clock all the time to see when you come in."

Riku shrugged while awkwardly avoiding Sora's eyes. "Well, I am a little late tonight. Er- this morning. I'm going to wash up and such, so why don't you just go to bed?" Riku said this last part with gentleness in his voice, and Sora responded with a nod and a yawn.

"Alright." The small brunette boy gathered up the bag of chips, and stowed it in the cupboard with three other bags of not yet opened Doritos. Sora yawned again, just realizing how tired he actually was. "G'night Riku."

"Night, Sora."

"I love you."

"Yeah." Riku didn't say the phrase back; he just took his coat off, hung it up, and then began to work on untying his shoes.

Sora was all too aware that Riku didn't say it back, but he'd given up on thinking too much about it. It'd been months since Riku had uttered the words 'I love you' to Sora, and even the last time he said them Sora didn't believe it. Without another word, Sora padded down the hallway and into the bedroom.

From the corner of his eye, Riku watched him go. He was completely aware of how he was hurting Sora, but don't get him wrong; he felt bad. He felt bad about everything. His friends think that he just completely lost interest in the boy, but that's not the case entirely. They keep telling him to just cut the ties, but for some reason Riku just… couldn't. He wasn't sure whether he really even loved Sora anymore, and the last thing he wanted to do was have a breakup.

They'd been together since High School, and those were the days. Their relationship was new, fun, and then love came into the picture. Everything got better, and it seemed like they were going to last forever. For their senior mock election, everyone had voted Sora and Riku 'most likely to get married.' That didn't sit too well with the few homophobes that didn't like the two boys, but they were mainly ignored.

But the point was that everything had been perfect until recently. Riku had begun to go partying with his friends more often, and he found himself less and less interested in Sora. He'd never cheat on him, no. That was something he'd never do, it would feel too much like following in his dad's footsteps. Not that he even really gave a lick about his father. He didn't hate him, he just didn't like him. There wasn't much to say about his dad other than the fact that he cheated on his mom a few times and he wasn't around often.

Riku snapped back to reality when Sora gently closed the bedroom door. The boy was the greatest boyfriend that anyone could ask for, and he proved that by still holding onto Riku when he was being like this.

Riku felt himself sweating in the heat of the apartment. He glanced at the thermostat by the door and turned it down about ten degrees. Sora always liked it warm in here- but Riku was more in tune with the cold. Sora liked summer, but Riku was always one for winter. In some ways they were just so different, but that kept everything interesting to them and opened them up to new things. Riku was perfectly content with that.

In essence, he couldn't even think of someone that would be better for him than Sora. But now- everything just didn't feel right. 'Only a rough patch,' is what Riku told himself. After all, after four years of being together without any problems, one was bound to surface eventually. Riku pushed back the bad feeling in his gut that came every time he thought about this particular situation, which was every day. Riku walked over to the little closet that held their washer and dryer, and dug through the dryer for some pajama pants. When he found what he was looking for he pulled his clothes off and put the others on.

The only thing really in his stomach right now was booze, and that wasn't quite fulfilling. It took a lot for Riku to get drunk, so he never came back home in an angry rampage. He wouldn't do that to Sora anyway.

He opened the pantry and cracked a smile when the main inhabitants of it were Blueberry Pop-tarts and Doritos. Those were the foods that Sora basically survived on, and how the kid wasn't fat was a mystery. Riku went more for a healthy diet, and he had to search the pantry thoroughly before he came upon a granola bar. It wasn't one of those S'mores granola bars, it was Natures Honey, or something like that. Since Riku paid close attention to his health, he'd opted for the thing that looked the best out of all the snack foods (although he had to admit that all the drinking he'd been doing lately contradicted how healthy he kept his diet at home).

Riku sighed and set himself down on the couch, feeling the warmth of where Sora had been minutes ago. Not finding what was currently on interesting, he idly flipped through the channels for something that just might catch his interest. Not surprisingly nothing seemed to be on. He was never one for television. He shoved the last bit of the granola bar into his mouth, and then tossed the wrapper on the coffee table. It was already littered with Pop-tart wrappers, so one small granola wrapper wouldn't make a difference. He made a mental note to ask Sora tomorrow if he could clean the coffee table.

Riku flipped the television off and threw the remote in with all of the wrappers. Riku winced at the annoying 'crunch' sound the impact made, and some of the wrappers fluttered to the floor. With a sigh he picked them all up one by one and brought them to the trash can. No sense in just making them sit there on the floor and waiting for Sora to clean them.

After a few minutes of cleaning up and feeding Autumn (she was starting to meow incessantly, did Sora forget to feed her again?), Riku shut off the lights in the small apartment and headed in the pitch-black to the bedroom that he and Sora had shared for almost a year now. The brunette was sleeping soundly, and Riku couldn't help but notice that Sora was adorable while sleeping- not to say that he wasn't cute all the time, though. Riku cracked a tiny smile and then climbed into the bed in a way that would shift the mattress as little as possible so he wouldn't wake up Sora. When he finally managed to get comfortable he pulled the covers over himself. His arms mechanically wound around the petite boy's waist, a movement that he was so accustomed to that he hadn't even thought about stopping. Sora cuddled in closer to him.

"Riku…" Sora murmured in his sleep.

Riku stuck his face into Sora's unruly brown hair. It smelled like the beach, like usual. "I'm here…" He whispered it so quietly that he could barely hear himself.

He wasn't sure if he loved Sora, but he couldn't leave him.

&!&!

Sora lounged on the couch lazily feeding himself and Autumn bits of Pop-tart. Riku was rushing around the house getting ready for work, nearly forgetting everything because he was running so late. He'd forgotten to set the alarm clock before he went to sleep, and now he was going to be about two hours late to arriving at his father's office. Riku wasn't one to normally care about running late for anything, but work was different because the couple needed the money. Riku's father was powerful here, but he never wanted to give his only son financial help. Even though Riku was the boss's son, the boss wouldn't hesitate to fire him if needed. Riku knew that the partying every night wasn't the best idea if he wanted to keep the job, but it was addicting to him, so he kept it up.

When Riku was sure that he had everything, he ran over to the door to put on his shoes. "Since I'm late I'm sure that dad will hold me over longer. What are you doing today?"

Sora shrugged. "Maybe going over to Roxas's. Haven't seen my little bro in like a week."

Riku hurriedly tied his shoes while talking. "Alright, have fun then."

Sora took another bite and nodded. "Will do."

"Great, bye." Riku flew out the door and slammed it shut behind him. Sora watched a few paint chips fly off from the impact and fall silently to the floor.

"Love you too…" He sighed and took another bite of Blueberry Pop-tart. Just when he began to wallow in his own misery Autumn stuck her claws into his arm and meowed. She wanted some more of the human food. He grumbled and picked another piece off for her. "You know what? I should stop feeding you this," he waved the frosted pastry in front of her face; "you're getting fat. You know that?"

She meowed in response.

He gave her one more small piece. "Maybe I should feed you that granola crap that Riku eats. Maybe you'll lose some of that poundage."

She sat up and gave him the cat equivalent of a glare. She walked away with as much attitude as a cat could possibly muster.

Sometimes it seemed like that cat could understand everything he was saying…

&!&!

Sora approached the door to his brother's apartment with Autumn struggling in his arms. She was never one for car rides, and she was sure to rocket around as soon as he set her down. But it didn't really matter; Roxas welcomed her into the house with open arms. For some reason he fancied her. While they waited, she clawed his arm, and Sora had to bite his lip to the point where he almost broke the skin to keep himself from cussing at the top of his lungs. When this girl was agitated, she was lethal.

Roxas opened the door with a toothbrush in his mouth and smiled goofily at them. "Come on in, we just woke up."

Sora rushed into the room and tossed the cat onto the floor. Just like he suspected, she shot down the hallway as soon as her feet made contact with carpet. "I swear she acts like a hyper puppy rather than a six-year-old cat. It's not natural. She was clawing me for Pop-tarts this morning!"

Roxas laughed heartily and rolled his eyes. "Lemme go give Axel a kick in the ass to get out of the bathroom so I can finish. I'll be back out in a sec."

Sora nodded at him and walked over to their couch and threw himself on it. Axel walked out of the bathroom rubbing his butt, and Sora wasn't sure whether it was because Roxas had indeed kicked him or they just had too much sex. Sora wasn't too interested in finding out in case it was the latter. It wasn't that sex creeped him out… it was just his little brother having sex that creeped him out. It was the older brother protectiveness kicking in. Technically he was only older by about three minutes, but still, that was older. And he held that above Roxas any chance he could.

Axel smirked at him and ruffled his hair. "Hey kid. How are you?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Axel, I'm not a kid. Besides, I'm older than Roxas! You turned my damn brother into freakin' jailbait."

Roxas stuck his head around the corner and frowned at Sora. "Hey, you're only older by a few minutes and I am not jailbait! Do I look underage to you?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know, if I answered that question it'd be a direct reflection of me, too… so I'll pass." Sora and Roxas looked a lot alike, but with a few major differences. One was obviously their hair. Sora's was chocolate-ey brunette colored, while Roxas was blonde. Sora's hair stuck out and up pretty much everywhere and in every direction, and Roxas's spikes were mostly aimed upward. And no, neither of the boys styled their hair. For some reason unbeknownst to them it was like that. Another difference that wasn't as easy to notice as the hair was their attitude. Sora was laid back, always cheerful, forgiving, and sometimes too nice for his own good. Roxas however, wasn't so forgiving, and he had a shorter fuse. But, both boys had a fierce loyalty to their friends and each other that would be near impossible to break. But, upon seeing the boys for the first time there's one thing that nobody ever fails to notice. Their eyes were almost inhuman with how sapphire they were, and they always had a spark of life in them. Riku and Axel would both easily admit that the eyes were the first thing that drew them to the twins.

When Autumn had decided to calm down, she jumped onto Sora's stomach, causing him to lose his breath for a moment. He sputtered while oxygen filled his lungs again, all the while Autumn was making herself comfortable on his stomach and purring. She tapped her paw on his arm, her way of ordering someone to pet her.

He glared pitifully at the cat, and Axel walked out of the room shaking his head and laughing. Autumn normally acted more like a small lap dog rather than a house cat that was knocking on twenty pounds; so naturally, she was entertaining for the person not getting clawed to death.

Roxas strode out of the hallway and into the living room, giving Axel a quick kiss. "Have fun working today. Don't punch anyone this time, okay? Who cares if they think they can do their job better than you. They can't." Roxas hugged Axel's waist (he was two heads shorter than Axel, it wasn't really possible to him to hug around Axel's neck without being on the tips of his toes) and Axel gave Roxas kiss on the top of the head.

"Yeah, I'll just remind them all of the time that Xigbar claimed he could weld better than me and ended up burning himself because he forgot gloves." Axel and Roxas laughed at the memory, and they released the embrace. "Anyway, I love you, see you later."

"Love you too, hun." Roxas replied, backing up from Axel a little.

Axel pulled on his shoes, not even bothering to tie them, and went out the door with a smile.

He welded at the local car garage, a quaint little place named Twilight Town Auto Repairs, obviously named for Twilight Town itself. He joked once about working as a Pyrotechnist, claiming that he would be perfect to manufacture some fireworks. Roxas had nearly fainted at the idea, and Sora couldn't help but laugh, with the image of Axel setting a whole laboratory on fire in his mind. With Axel, It would definitely be possible. So Axel went for the next best thing (in his mind, that is), wanting to work with fire somehow. No one really knew why he loved fire so much.

Roxas walked over and settled onto the end of the couch by Sora's feet. "So, how are things with Riku? Is he, uh, getting better?"

"You say that like he has a disease," Sora lifted his head up and commented with no hint of humor. He sighed, and dropped his head back into the couch. "I don't know what's going on with him! He won't say 'I love you' anymore, but for some reason I think that he dosen't like… want to leave me. It really seems like he wants to be there, but I'm just not too sure."

"Like I've said before, maybe something's just wrong right now with him, and no, I'm not talking like disease. I don't know, but Axel and I have fought before. All you can really do is stick around and wait for it to blow over"

"We've never fought before, that's the problem! What if just sticking around doesn't work? What if he's thinking about leaving me? I don't want to lose him…"

&!&!

"… but, I don't know how to handle this!" Riku jammed the papers into the paper feed on the copier, and pressed a button with more force than really necessary. "I- I want to be with him, but I don't know." Riku put his elbows on the copier and put his head in his hands. "Tidus, I'm stuck."

Tidus whistled. "Yeah you are. I mean, I don't really know about two dudes together, but I can offer advice from the straight POV."

"Tidus, the only thing different from me having a boyfriend and you having a girlfriend is that my boyfriend has a penis like me. Other than that, relationships are the same you bastard." Riku gave Tidus a glare that could wither grapes into raisins.

Tidus put his hands in the air as mock surrender. "I know, I know, just messing with you. As I can see… that's not the best idea."

"Damn straight."

"So, what I think you should do is go out clubbing, see what else is out there, and have a good time! Leave the relationship issues for Dr. DiZ, y'know?"

Riku glared at Tidus with ferocity as equal as before.

"You know… Dr. DiZ… the relationship expert?" Tidus shifted his body and eyes under Riku's look of malice.

"There are two things wrong with what you just said. One, we go clubbing almost every night with Wakka, so why the hell do you think that would make me feel so much better now? And two, Dr. DiZ doesn't know shit about relationships; he was divorced a few times himself." Riku went back to pressing buttons on the copier, knowing that his father wouldn't be too pleased if he got the documents too late and had to start his meeting without them.

Tidus crossed his arms and slumped back into his seat. "Fine, fine, I was just offering help. I can see how much I'm loved." He took a sip of his black coffee, and sighed in delight.

"And, I don't want to cheat on Sora. I don't even like leaving him alone so much! But yet, I can't really bring myself to stay home. Ugh, I just make everything awkward. I'm really happy that he has his brother, but maybe I'm just using Roxas as an excuse to say that me clubbing every night is okay…" Riku rubbed his eyes and yawned. "I should stop doing it anyway, I'm tired as hell."

"Yeah and you've been swearing a lot. That usually means that you're tired or pissed off, and I'm thinking you're both. I'm going to be honest here; I'm slightly scared of you at the moment."

Another glare was shot at Tidus, who sipped his coffee innocently.

Tidus held out the mug to Riku with a cocky smile on his face. "Coffee?"

Riku made a face, and was about to speak, but Wakka walked into the room. "Hurry up with those papers, ya? You're dad's getting frustrated; the meeting's starting in ten minutes."

Riku nodded at Wakka, who gave a short nod in return and left the room to attend to his other duties. Riku glanced at the copy machine; only twenty left to print.

Fifteen…

Ten…

"Sure you don't want coffee?"

Riku could have smacked the coffee addicted kid.

The copier beeped irritatingly, signifying that it was done. Riku gathered up the fifty papers that he had printed and left Tidus in the room without saying anything. He walked past the thirty or so cubicles, then right into his father's office.

Riku's father, Sephiroth, was on the phone. Riku waited impatiently and glanced around the room while his father talked. Many business degrees hung on the walls, along with Sephiroth with his arm around his late wife, Riku's mother.

Riku's mother died only a few years ago because of cancer, but Riku's missed her ever since. She was accepting of Riku and Sora, and while she was alive Sephiroth was too. Back then, Sephiroth was okay, minus the infidelities. Riku's mom always forgave Sephiroth, and Riku could never really understand why. But when she died… Sephiroth became cold and threw himself into his work. He started disapproving of Riku being gay and even made jabs at Sora. It hurt Riku when Sephiroth said those insults, but he always kept a blank face and eventually the insulting subsided. Riku remembered the thing that Sephiroth had said to him right after his mother's funeral, the insult to start it all: "If I can't even have a normal son then he might as well be with someone who's important and not worthless on this godforsaken planet." Riku fumed even thinking about it now, the way that Sephiroth insulted Sora. Riku was just glad that he'd stopped, or there would be an even bigger rift between them.

He tuned back into reality and realized that his father was wrapping up the phone call. "Okay, Monday, no later. Are we clear? Good." Sephiroth hung up the phone and greeted his only son with a smile. He held out his hand for the papers. "Good morning. I didn't see you bright and early when you should have been here. Too much partying with the boys?"

Riku nodded tersely. "Slept in, dad. Sorry, won't happen again." Riku handed him the papers and Sephiroth looked over them quickly.

"Be sure of that, you know I don't like it when you're late."

"I know."

"And if you're late too much, I'll be forced to fire you and I don't want to do that. I also wouldn't to be accused of nepotism, however, by keeping you around." Sephiroth straightened all the papers out and tucked them into a briefcase that was on his desk.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, I know. Got more papers to do." He strode out of the room quickly and heard his father call his name while walking away, but he ignored it. He didn't want to talk about work right now, which is surely what his dad wanted to do. He passed by the cubicles again and when he came to the copy room he walked in to find that Tidus was gone, and sighed. As annoying as Tidus was, he was at least company. Wakka was always serious on the job so there was no way Riku wanted to find him. Tidus hated this job, and didn't give too much a care. He only showed up because of a need for money, and Riku sympathized with him.

&!&!

"So then she was all like, 'I'm the great ninja Yuffie!'" Everyone bursted out laughing at Hayner's recollection, and Olette, his girlfriend, was close to tears.

Sora spoke between laughs. "Where was this?"

Olette recovered from laughing for a moment to speak. "TwilightMart. Don't get me wrong, I love Yuffie like she was my sister, but she scared the crap out of the worker there. After she did that she was dragged off by security. It was probably because she was climbing the shelves like a ladder while she was saying it." Olette began laughing again.

Sora believed it. Yuffie had a tendency to be… hyper, to say the least.

Hayner took over for her. "We had to finish her shopping for her, so she owes us a bit of money now."

Axel busted through the door and hesitated in his movement when he saw that there were two more people in the apartment. "Hi Hayner, Hi Olette. When did you two get here?" He kicked his shoes off and didn't even flinch when the bounced off the wall and came to a quick rest at his feet.

They both waved, but Hayner replied to Axel. "We came to hang and just tell Roxas a funny story…" He laughed a little, "but yeah. We have to go soon and get some money from Yuffie." He looked at Olette, "Assuming that she's out of the TwilightMart clink. Too bad Pence missed out on all this."

Olette giggled. "Yeah, he just had to go to college today."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't all you kiddos be going to college?"

Hayner, Olette, Sora, and Roxas all shook their heads in unison.

Axel chuckled and shook his head as well. "Lazy people."

Roxas stuck his tongue out at Axel. "You can't say that, you didn't go to college either!"

Sora's phone began to beep, and Roxas groaned in annoyance. "Really Sora, would it kill you to get a good ringtone? That beeping sounds like the noise a truck makes when it's backing up."

Sora rolled his eyes at. "No one ever calls me anyway, so what's the point?" He opened his phone and held it to his ear, somewhat pleasantly surprised that the caller was Riku. Riku never called him anymore…

"Riku?" He failed at trying to disguise the amount of surprise in his voice. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. Why do you ask?"

Sora felt slightly uncomfortable at his outburst. He didn't want to blurt out the fact that Riku never even called him anymore. He wanted Hayner and Olette to remain oblivious about the relationship problems between Riku and Sora. "Well… no reason. Anyway, what's up?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go to dinner tonight."

Sora was stunned silent for a moment.

"If… if you don't want to that's fine. We just haven't in awhile."

"No, no, no, no, I'd love to. I was just a little surprised that you asked. It has been awhile. But yeah, I'd love to. Where?" Sora smiled widely at Roxas, who gave his twin a curious glance.

"Somewhere nice. I'll meet you at home, okay? I'm leaving work now."

"Alright. I'll see you then." Sora slammed the phone shut and punched his fist in the air (causing Autumn to jump off his stomach in a mild pissed-off panic). "Yes!"

Roxas didn't drop the curious glance. "What's going on? I haven't seen you this excited for awhile."

"Riku asked me on a date!" Sora, Roxas and Axel celebrated with cheers, and Hayner and Olette looked at each other confusedly.

"Sora, you've been dating him for years now. Why is it that awesome that he's asked you on a date?" Hayner inquired.

Sora shook his head. "Well, he's just been working a lot lately. We, uh, haven't had much alone time."

Hayner nodded. "Yeah we're too lazy to go to college, and Olette and I only like work at a fast food joint, so we've got plenty of time to do whatever we want." He nudged Olette and wagged his eyebrows at her.

She giggled and smacked him playfully. "Hayner, don't be so horny. But, we've got to go, so," She waved at us, "see you all later!"

Everyone said their goodbyes, and Sora pulled himself off the couch. "I'm gunna kick it so I can be home early enough to change…" He looked down at his ensemble of really holey blue jeans and a worn out t-shirt and grimaced. "I seriously doubt that Riku's going to want to go to a nice place with me looking like this…"

After Axel was done giving Autumn a good scratch behind the ears, he picked her up and brought her over to Sora. "Have fun tonight, got it memorized? You call us if Riku does something stupid." He gave Sora a smile and put the cat in his arms.

The brunette smiled back. "Thanks Axel. I'm sure that tonight will go perfectly…"

&!&!

Sora and Riku arrived at the restaurant dressed in nice clothes, and both in anticipation for what was to come. Riku wanted desperately to figure out what he was feeling, and wanted to see if alone time with Sora would help with his bad feelings. Sora wanted to make Riku love him again; he wanted to have fun and remind Riku why they were together in the first place.

Both went in with high hopes, but both were also nervous. Riku checked in for their reservations, and they were soon seated.

Sora picked up the menu and smiled cheerfully while scanning the food.

"Why so smiley?" Riku couldn't help but ask about the big 'ol smile that was plastered on Sora's face.

Sora shrugged. "It's nothing… it's just that this is where we had our first date… and I'm glad to be out with you right now. We kinda need it."

Riku had chosen this place exactly because it was the place that they had their first date, hoping that it would add a little something extra to the evening, and he was right. And as for the other half of the sentence… Riku just hoped that everything would work out for his and Sora's sake. Riku couldn't help but feel that everything was riding on this date. Their relationship, Sora still holding on, everything. Riku smiled back so Sora didn't get worried from lack of reaction. "Yeah, I know. What do you want to order?"

Sora shut the menu. "The same thing that I had on our first date… the Fettuccini Alfredo. It's completely delicious here. What about you?"

"Mmm, 10 oz. steak. Like always." Riku glanced up at Sora from the menu and gave him a tiny smile.

Sora sighed happily, and their waiter came over. It was the same happy-go-lucky mohawked blonde that Sora had met via Axel. Sora perked up even more and greeted Demyx with a wave. "Hey, didn't know that you worked here!"

"Hey Sora! Yeah, I work here when I'm not playing at the local bar." Demyx laughed idly. "This is just a side job. Trust me; I'm not that big on feeding rich, snobby people." He ran his fingers through his hair and paused, eyes wide. "Oh- not saying that you two are rich and snobby… you're cool." He smiled nervously.

Sora laughed. Typical Demyx. "No offense taken, Demyx. I don't think you've met him, but this is my boyfriend, Riku."

Riku and Demyx shook hands, Demyx happily and Riku indifferently. Riku had heard some things about the blonde waiter from Sora, and from those inferences he'd come to the conclusion that Demyx seemed annoying.

"So how are Axel and Roxas? I've been so busy that I haven't seen them in awhile…" Demyx trailed off and recollected the last time that he, Roxas, and Axel had hung out together.

Riku inwardly groaned, and no one noticed how he was getting increasingly bothered by Demyx every second. Apparently his inferences about Demyx being annoying were right so far. All Riku wanted to do was start the dinner with his boyfriend, and this kid was killing everything by starting conversation with Sora.

"They're doing great as always. Axel's still welding and being a cocky ass, and Roxas is still as lazy as usual. Doesn't do anything except have sex with Axel and hang with me and his other friends." Sora laughed, and Demyx joined.

Riku's fuse was short today, and they were both pushing it.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. They've both never really done anything else. I-"

Riku finally snapped and put his hand up, interrupting Demyx mid-sentence. "We're ready to order, and if you don't mind we're on a date right now. Now, can you please take down what we want?" Riku used a little more malice in his comment then intended, and when he saw the equal looks of hurt on Sora and Demyx's faces, he felt a little bad. But not too bad, he wanted to have a nice date with Sora and Demyx was ruining it.

After Riku's statement, Demyx found himself a little flustered. "Um… okay, what do you all want to drink?" He scrambled for a pen and his pad of paper. He ended up dropping the pen, and after he came up from grabbing it off the ground his face was red with embarrassment. "Yeah. Drinks?"

Sora sounded slightly dejected. "Coke."

Riku was stoic. "Coffee. Black."

Demyx scribbled them down and left with a quick, fearful glance at Riku.

Sora set his menu down on the table and stared at it for a moment, thinking. "Did you really have to be that rude to him, Riku? I haven't seen him for awhile. We're friends."

Riku sighed, and figured that he wouldn't get anywhere good if he told Sora what he really thought about Demyx. "Sorry, I just want this night to be about us two." He reached over and grabbed Sora's hands. "Just us. I got a little irritated when you two started talking, I'll admit it."

Sora granted Riku with a small smile, and squeezed his hands. "It's fine. I-" He looked to the side and thought of something to say, "I'll just call and catch up with him over the phone. We don't need to do it here."

Riku took his hands from Sora, and placed both of their menus on the end of the table. "Thank you. Like I said, I want tonight to be about us."

Demyx came back with their drinks, and from the looks of it, he seemed to have collected pretty much all of his cool while fetching the refreshments. "One coke," he set down the fizzing brown pop in front of Sora, "and one black coffee." He set the coffee in front of Riku. "Ready to order?" Riku noticed that his perkiness seemed a little forced. Maybe he'd scared the boy a little too much?

Nah.

Sora and Riku both ordered their food, and the second Riku was done muttering the last bit Demyx was off like a rocket. Sora sighed and watched the blonde go. "Riku, you kinda scared him."

Riku resisted the strong urge to roll his eyes. "He'll be fine. Remember, this is about us, okay?"

Sora nodded. "I didn't forget."

They were both silent for a moment, just scanning the restaurant scene all around them.

"So what was the spontaneous dinner invitation for? You're usually out clubbing by now." Sora put his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands.

Riku shrugged and crossed his arms. "We haven't really had dinner together in awhile, and I figured that this would be the best place to do it. Why? Did you not want to? I'd understand if you, uh, wanted to spend more time with your brother. It's rare that there's a moment anymore that him and Axel aren't fucking."

Sora giggled. "No, I'm really happy that you wanted to do this. I miss spending time with just you, you know? You're always out with Tidus and Wakka." Sora wrinkled his nose. "And Autumn isn't that great as company. She's really whiny and she can be a serious brat sometimes. A couple days ago she ate a whole Pop-tart! I didn't know that cats had the stomach capacity to do that!"

Riku chuckled and shook his head. "She hardly acts like a cat. How did you choose her again?"

Sora's smile dropped. "Riku, you got me her when we moved in together. Don't you remember? She was a present." Sora stared hard at the silverette, barely believing that Riku didn't even remember his own gift.

Riku thought for a moment, and he vaguely recollected giving Sora a kitten full of spunk on the happy days when they decided to move in together. He sighed and uncrossed his arms, looking away from Sora in embarrassment. How in Kingdom Hearts could he have forgotten that? "Look, Sora, sorry. I was just having a brain fart moment. I remember, she was a spunky little kitten when I got her from the pet store, and I knew that you would love her because you two were kind of alike. Well, you were then, but not now. She's changed a bit." He smiled warmly, hoping that it would somewhat fix the screw up he just made.

Sora was a forgiving person, and Riku's statement worked in warming the boy again. "I was hoping that you didn't completely forget that… it was probably one of the best presents you've ever gotten for me. I love Autumn, but not as much as I love you." Sora hoped that this once Riku might just say the three words back, and even though it was doubtful he still couldn't help it when his hopes rose.

Riku smiled awkwardly. "Thanks, hun." He avoided Sora's eyes, knowing the look of hurt all too well that was more than likely to follow.

Before the situation could descend into an argument by being provoked by either of the two, Demyx arrived with their food. He set it down in front of them both and left with a (half) smile. "Enjoy!"

Riku rubbed his hands together and looked at the steak with hunger in his eyes. "Mm, that was fast. That's what I really love about this place. They get your food out quickly." Riku dug into his steak with grace similar to a gorilla's, and Sora snorted at how Riku ate his food with so little manners. To Sora, as weird as it was, that was part of Riku's charm.

They both enjoyed their food for a few long moments before Sora started another conversation, intentionally not saying anything about what happened before they had received their food. "So what is it about clubbing every night that's so fun? You're up late every single night, and you have to work every single morning. Is it really worth it?"

Riku swallowed his piece of steak wiped his face before speaking. "It's just fun because I like partying. I don't know, but all the people you meet, and the dancing. Tidus can't really get enough of it. He has a girlfriend, but yeah, he cheats on her." Riku shook his head and scoffed at Tidus's numerous infidelities.

Sora's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "H-he cheats?" Sora was scared. If it was easy for Riku to admit that Tidus did something so terrible… would Riku ever…?

"Yeah he does." Riku saw Sora's shocked eyes, and promptly reassured Sora that he wouldn't do anything of the sort. "Don't worry about me; I'm not as stupid as him. He's just a man-whore, and I like what I have." Riku smiled. He was telling the truth, and he hoped that the comment would reassure Sora.

Sora sniffed and took another small bite of his pasta. After it was swallowed, he replied. "If you like what you have so much, then why do you go out with them every night and leave me alone?"

Riku was cornered, and didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected such an attack from Sora, of all people.

Sora sighed sadly and apologized. "I'm sorry, that was mean. I just don't really understand. I don't ever see you anymore. You're either working or clubbing. When are you going to be home? I thought that us moving in together meant more time together, you know."

Riku sipped his coffee and contemplated what Sora just said. The brunette was right (like usual), and he wanted to say something to make him feel better. "Well, How about I stay home tonight? I'm not really in the mood to hang with Tidus and Wakka anyway. I see them every day. That sound good?"

Sora responded with a happy smile. "That sounds perfect! It's about time we had some time together." Sora dug happily into his Alfredo, and Riku into his steak.

They finished the night like that. Sora chatting happily (but endlessly) and Riku wondering if everything was going to go okay. He was happy that he decided to stay home with Sora tonight, but nonetheless there was a bad feeling in his gut. Would tonight really just drop all the recent feelings that he'd been having? Could one night really fix it all?

&!&!

They arrived back at the apartment and were immediately greeted by Autumn, who gave them a meow that could only be described as pissed off. She didn't like being home alone so much. Sora picked her up and snuggled her, even though she was struggling about as hard as possible. When she was pissed, there was no way a little snuggling was going to make her happy. She managed to squirm out of Sora's grip, and she rocketed into the kitchen.

Riku watched her go and chuckled lightly. "Maybe you should feed her. She's looking hungry."

"She's always hungry," Sora mumbled under his breath while heading toward the kitchen to feed her a can of cat food. She refused to eat dry cat food, so Sora was subject to feeding her the only kind of wet cat food she liked, and it was naturally the most expensive kind and was only sold at one place. He opened the can and dumped it in her bowl, and she immediately began to eat, ignoring Sora in a way that only a moody cat like her could manage. Riku began taking his shoes off and his jacket, and Sora did the same.

Sora shivered in the cold of the apartment and turned the thermostat up. Riku was comfortable in the cold, but he didn't say anything when Sora turned it back up about ten degrees.

Riku started at it for a moment and dreaded the heating bill. We really need to figure something out. I can't stand it being that hot in here. I don't really feel like paying for that damn heating bill either. Does he have any idea how much that jacks up the bill? While Sora had his back turned, Riku quickly turned it down five degrees from where Sora had cranked it. They would just have to meet in the middle when it came to the temperature.

Sora sat on the couch and patted the seat next to him with a smile on his face. "Come sit, Riku!"

Riku complied, and took a seat next to Sora. Sora clicked on the TV and began sifting through the channels for something interesting. Sora tossed the remote onto the ground when he didn't see anything that he really wanted to watch. He looked at Riku. "TV's really crappy these days." Riku bent down and picked up the remote, flipping back a few channels.

"Looks like there's a Blitzball game on. I haven't seen one of these in awhile." Riku set the remote down on the coffee table, and became immersed into the game, cheering for his favorite team when they scored, and swearing profusely when something he didn't like happened.

Sora scooted closer to Riku and put his head on the taller man's shoulders. Riku glanced down at Sora with a smile and wrapped his arms around Sora's waist, then went back to watching the game.

"Riku?"

Riku looked at Sora. "Hm?"

Sora moved himself so he was straddling Riku, making the silverette's eyes go wide. "Sora, I-"

Sora stopped the other from talking by gently kissing him. Riku wrapped his arms around Sora's middle, and then Sora responded with deepening the kiss.

"Sora…" Again, Riku was forced to stop talking because Sora began kissing him fiercer, introducing tongue into the kiss now.

Riku wanted this to stop. It was going too far. He and Sora had been intimate a lot in their relationship, so it was nothing new to Riku, but it was something that wasn't right in his state of heart.

When Sora began to run his hands up Riku's shirt, that was when Riku acted. He didn't want to hurt Sora, but at the same time he didn't want to do something that his heart wasn't in. He gently pushed Sora off of him, and reeled back at the look of extreme shock and pain on Sora's face. "Sora, look. Not right now, okay?"

"What? You're kidding, right Riku?" Sora pushed himself a few inches away from Riku.

Riku shook his head. "Just not now, okay? I- I'm-"

Sora's beautiful eyes became ablaze with hostility toward Riku. "What's your deal Riku? You've been so different lately! We haven't done anything like this in months! No making out, no sex, just because you've been either been gone or 'didn't feel like it!' Explain that to me, Riku!"

Riku stood up, and not knowing how to react to Sora's hostility, he retaliated with his own. "Sora. Don't give me that. You have no clue at all what the hell is going on with me. Get a clue, then you can start your damn whining, because right now I'm sick of it!"

Sora froze, and his mouth dropped. He had never heard Riku talk to him like that, and it scared him. Riku had always been kind- sometimes moody, but that happens to everyone, but never downright mean.

Riku gave Sora one last hard look and retreated down the hallway, toward the bedroom.

Sora's eyes started to well up with tears, and he flinched when he heard the sound of the door slamming.

He couldn't place what he'd done wrong? He knew that he should be enraged at Riku for what he said, but the main thing he thought was: What's wrong with him? This isn't Riku.

That night, Sora cried himself to sleep.

&!&!

Riku jammed the papers into the copier, and no matter how much Tidus rambled to him, the sounds of Sora crying wouldn't leave his head. Plus, the constant nagging from his conscience wasn't helping. Even while 'busy' at work, the main thing on the front of his mind was what he said to Sora. It was uncalled for, and more than anything he just wished that he could take it back. Seeing Sora sleeping on the couch that morning made him feel like he wanted to kick himself, but boy was he ever grateful that Sora didn't wake up while he was getting ready. He wasn't at all ready to deal with a confrontation, and right before work wasn't ideal for one.

What the fuck was I thinking? I'm not myself lately; normally I'd jump at the thought of me and Sora kissing. Something must be completely wrong. Riku pushed the 'copy' button with way more force than was necessary, and winced when it caused pain to shoot up his finger.

"RIKU!" Tidus practically chucked his coffee mug at Riku to get his attention.

"Fucking what, Tidus? Can you NOT see that I don't want to talk right now?" Riku ignored the people that were sticking their heads in the copy room to see what the yelling was about.

Tidus put his hands in the air for mock surrender. "What's even wrong with you? I know you've been havin' some problems lately, but damn, today you're like fucking Scrooge. Well, except it's not Christmas…"

Riku not-so-subtly rolled his eyes at Tidus and his comparison to Scrooge. There was no way. "Sora and I got into a fight last night. One waaay worse than anything else we've gotten into." Riku lowered his eyes to the floor so Tidus couldn't see the pain on his face. "He- he cried himself to sleep on the couch. It was that bad."

Tidus leaned forward with interest. "Really? That sucks, man. This is the first big fight that you've gotten into with him in years, right?"

"Tidus, we've never had a fight like this. Ever. In all our years of dating." Riku glared at the copier, which was beginning to beep to tell him the papers were finished. He jammed a button and grabbed the papers. "I need to take this to my dad. Be back in a minute." He left the room with Tidus staring woefully at him.

When he walked into his father's office, Sephiroth was typing furiously into the computer. "Hello, son. I trust you've had a good morning?"

Riku snorted and set the papers down. "Not at all."

Sephiroth took his hands of the keyboard and folded them. "Oh? What's the matter, son? You can tell me, I might be able to heed some advice." Riku shook his head. His dad was the last person that he would go to for matters of the heart. "It's fine. Something that I need to sort out." Riku turned around and left the office deep in thought, and didn't hear his father call his name.

When Riku left the office, Sephiroth sighed. Two days now, he'd wanted to talk to his son, but he'd either been ignored when he called Riku, or, like today, Riku'd been too distracted. Wakka walked in the room, and Sephiroth smiled at him. The way to get Riku to listen was through his friends, of course.

"What is it, Wakka?"

"Your secretary told me to tell you something. She wanted me to tell you that your 5 o'clock cancelled, ya."

Wakka was about to leave the room, but Sephiroth spoke up. "Come sit, Wakka." He motioned to the single chair in front of the desk. Wakka obliged, slightly confused at the notion. He quickly wondered if he was lucky enough to be getting promoted.

"Wakka, my son hasn't been too happy today. He hasn't told me why. Do you know?" Sephiroth hoped that his employee could give him some insight.

"I didn't hear anything right from him, I just overheard some gossip from Fuu, ya."

"That's fine. I'd just like to know something of what happened, seeing as I can't get it straight from the horse's mouth." Sephiroth waited patiently for Wakka to start explaining.

Wakka thought for a moment. "Well, what Fuu told me was that Riku was talking to Tidus, and Riku was yelling, ya. Something about a fight between him and Sora, and Sora crying himself to sleep on the couch. From what I heard, it sounded awful. I'd hate to be him, ya."

Sephiroth contemplated this. "Interesting. I've been trying to talk to my son for a few days now, and he either just walks away too distracted or he just ignores me. I want him to come stay at my beach house on Destiny Islands with me for a few weeks, and I just can't get him to stay here for one moment to tell him this. I want to spend some quality time with him, since we haven't since his mother… passed… and I thought that this would be a good way."

Wakka's mouth practically watered at the thought. He loved beaches and warm weather himself, and Radiant Garden only had warm weather for a few months a year and no beaches. "He'd love that, ya. Don't know why he wouldn't. Do you just want me to tell him to come talk to you, or just tell him myself?"

Sephiroth smiled. "I'd like you to tell him, as it seems he won't listen to me too much at the moment. Do you think you can do that? Of course there's a place for you and Tidus to stay there, if you wish. It's big enough. And, there will be no work for you three if he decides to come. But mind you, you two will only be able to come if my son decides he wants to. What do you think?"

Wakka smiled and pulled on a strand of his hair. "I'll have lunch with him, ya. He couldn't say no to an offer like that." Wakka started to stand up, but stopped and sat back down. "But what about Sora? Even though they're fighting, he might still want him to be there as well, ya."

Sephiroth's nose wrinkled. He wasn't too fond of the boy… but if it was the only way that he'd get to see his son, then so be it. "If it's the only way to get Riku to agree, then that's fine. Mind you, see if he'll come by himself first. If he says no to that, then you can bring up the fact that Sora can come."

Wakka nodded, and stood up. "Will do, boss." He strolled out of the room, feeling like a million bucks. He couldn't wait for the sand, the sun, the beaches… it was all too surreal.

&!&!

Sora woke up to Autumn clawing his leg. He rubbed his eyes, and reached over to pet her. "Are you hungry girl? I'm guessing that R-" he then realized that he didn't really want to say his name, "he forgot to feed you."

She meowed in response.

He gave her a can of food, and sighed when he saw it was the next to last one. Guess I'm going to have to go into town today to get her more… He didn't really want to do anything, but he couldn't let his cat starve. After the fight with Riku the only thing that he wanted to do was curl up in their bed and have a good cry. Of course he couldn't, because Autumn was a pig.

He took a quick shower and his physical self felt better after the warm heat. He threw on some clothes, not even caring whether they matched or not. Roxas was the fashion freak, not him. He gathered up everything he needed to go out into the town (including a pack of Blueberry Pop-tarts to eat on the way) and soon was out the door and into the car.

For Sora, the drive into town was a thoughtful one. As he munched on the pop-tarts he thought about what happened, and promptly blushed when he thought about the way that he had thrown himself at Riku and gotten rejected. It wasn't like Riku to ever reject something like that- normally Riku'd be the one to start it.

Sora sighed. What had he done wrong?

He reached the little shop downtown Radiant Garden and parked. This was the only shop that sold the food that Autumn would eat, and considering that she ate a lot, he was here often. The owner knew him well.

He walked in and the door jingled at his arrival.

The owner smirked at him on arrival. "Ah, Sora. Good to see you again. Has the moody kitty eaten all her food again?"

Sora gave the man a slight nod. "Sadly. She's getting fatter too. Do you have any, like, diet kind of that food?"

The man shook his head. "No, we don't." He smirked, "But do you really think Autumn would eat diet food, anyway? From what you've told me she seems a little particular."

Sora groaned. He was right. "Alright, I'll just take fifty cans of the usual. That should last me about three days." The sad this was that fifty cans probably would really last only three days.

The owner laughed with good humor and counted out fifty cans into a box, since a bad would rip under the weight. "This cat's going to run you broke. Maybe you should force feed her cheaper food. You know, she either eats the cheap food or doesn't eat at all. That seems to work for most cats."

Sora snorted and dug out his wallet. "No, she'll either start a one-cat rebellion or raid the pantry and eat all my Blueberry Pop-tarts. Or both."

The owner typed the numbers into the register, and took Sora's money. "You're probably right. Have I ever told you that I'm scared to meet your cat?"

"Every time I come here."

The man smirked again. "Just making sure I get that message across. Have a great day."

"See you soon." Sora gathered up the box full of cans of cat food and brought it out to his car, setting it in the backseat. He shut the door, but hesitated on the way to the driver's seat. He didn't really want to go home after the hell that happened last night. Being in the room that it happened would just bring everything back, and Sora wanted to forget it. Or at least think of a solution before he broke down. And going back to the shared apartment would prompt a breakdown. Maybe a little walking around town and clearing his head would be good.

Sora nodded to himself. "That's exactly what I need. To walk around and think."

&!&!

Wakka waited for Riku to come out of the copy room to ambush him with a lunch invitation. He didn't want to tell Riku about Sephiroth's plan at work, because there was no way that he wanted to risk Riku saying no; Riku was always cranky at work. Wakka's reasoning was that maybe if he paid for a little food to get in Riku's belly, Riku might be a little happier and want to go.

When Riku walked out of the copy room, there was a huge frown on his face.

Wakka jumped in his path. "Riku, how's it going, ya? You wanna get some lunch? I know a great place!"

Riku started at him, wondering what could have taken over Wakka and made him so… perky. "Are you okay?"

Wakka nodded vigorously. "Peachy, ya, so what about lunch?"

Riku sighed, and figured that lunch was a good idea. It'd be better than going and talking to Sora, who even after working all day he had no idea what to say to. Even after eight hours of work, he still didn't have a clue how to confront his boyfriend. He'd never felt so pathetic in his life. "Yeah, sure. That's fine."

&!&!

Wakka and Riku had both decided to go to a little café in downtown Radiant Garden, and when they arrived it wasn't too busy. Wakka smiled widely, feeling that everything would work out grandly. Since Riku had decided to come with him, all he had to do was feed him and then he was golden. There was no way that Riku would say no to an invitation to Destiny Islands. After all, it was the most beautiful world out there.

They took a seat, and were promptly given coffee. Both of them sipped quietly, thinking about two different things. Wakka, of course about beaches, and Riku, about Sora.

When their simple meals had arrived, Wakka decided to pop his question. "I talked to your dad today. He was worried about you, ya."

Riku winced. "Worried about me, really? For what?" He knew that he really didn't need to ask what. He was completely spaced out at work, and he knew it.

"You weren't quite with it today, ya. He asked me what was wrong, and the only thing I had to supply for him was office gossip." Wakka was careful not to tread bad water, and due to Riku's flinch he knew that he was getting close. "But that's not why we're here. If you want to tell me about your personal life, then that's your choice, ya."

Riku was relieved that Wakka wasn't pressing him for answers. He wasn't really in the mood to give any.

"But anyway, your dad invited us, meaning you, me, and Tidus, out to his beach house on Destiny Islands. He said-"

"Wait, what?" Riku cut him off.

"He invited us?"

Riku was confused. "Why?"

"He said that he wanted some time with you, and let me and Tidus come along as a special bonus, ya."

Now Riku was dumbfounded. Since when had his dad ever been interested in 'time with him?' Was this a joke? "Was he serious?"

"Completely, ya. He even said no work for the few weeks we'd be there!"

"A few weeks?"

Wakka nodded, not liking Riku's tone of voice. He'd be damned if he was going to lose a free vacation. "It'd be like one endless party, ya! There's no way that you can say no!"

"There are exactly three reasons why I can say no to that. One: I hate warm weather. And Destiny Islands is warm all the time."

"But, won't it be better than working?"

"Two: My dad has never been interested in spending time with me. Why should I believe that he cares now?"

"He doesn't hate you Riku. Maybe he's finally realizing that he wants to get close to you, ya?"

"Three: I didn't hear you mention anything about Sora. I know my dad doesn't like him, so I'm guessing he didn't put Sora on the invitation list."

"That's unfair, ya! Your dad said that you could bring Sora if you wanted to!" Wakka crossed is arms.

Riku mirrored Wakka's action. "After I brought up the point that Sora was never mentioned? Wakka, I know how my dad works. He's not that unpredictable."

Wakka put his head in his hands. He had a sad feeling in the pit of his stomach that his vacation was lost. "So, you don't want to come?"

Riku thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I'd want to talk to Sora first."

Wakka gave him a look of confusion. "Why? I thought you two were fighting, ya."

Riku gave the grape withering glare to Wakka. "I was sure that you weren't going to say anything about that."

Wakka knew that he had tread on the wrong path. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it, ya."

Riku nodded reluctantly. "It's fine." He paused for a moment. "I know you, and I know that you want to go to Destiny Islands really bad."

"More than anything, ya."

"I'm not going to say yes immediately though. I do want to talk to Sora first. Did my dad say anything else?"

"Not that I can think of, ya."

"Okay. Well, I'll talk to him about it and then call you. For now, let's just eat, okay? I need a break from drama."

Wakka nodded and picked up his fork. "So, did you see that Blitzball game that was on last night?"

&!&!

Sora meandered to the other side of town within an hour, and felt loads better. Walking around helped a lot, and now he could go home to Riku with a clear head. Then maybe they could solve everything, and the relationship would return back to normal. Maybe being the keyword. Who knew how Riku was feeling. Riku probably didn't know what Riku was feeling.

Sora's stomach growled, and he spotted a tiny little café across the street. He had eaten here with Riku once or twice, and it was a nice little hole-in-the-wall place. They had simple food like burgers and fries, which Sora was completely okay with. He quickly pulled out his wallet and glanced at the cash in there, deciding that he had enough money to eat a good meal. He opened the door and the little bell chimed. But before he was even through the doorway, he wanted to turn around and run.

Wakka and Riku. Riku and Wakka. He couldn't move. They both looked up, and Riku's froze as well when he saw Sora standing in the doorway.

Wakka, however, lit up. "Sora, come sit with us, ya!"

Sora contemplated running the other way, but after a quick deliberation decided that it wasn't a good idea to do so. He worked his way over to the table without even thinking, terrified of talking to Riku. He thought he was ready, but he now knew he was wrong.

Riku knew he wasn't ready, and he felt like his heart dropped through his ass.

Sora pulled up a chair to the table, and his stomach rumbled again when he looked at their food. "Uh, hey. Didn't expect to see you two here."

Wakka smiled widely. "We didn't either, ya, but I'm so glad that you showed up! Riku, this is perfect."

Riku shoved a dozen fries into his mouth. "Yahh, pehrphect." He swallowed the fries, and inwardly groaned. He didn't want to have this conversation with Sora now; he wanted to fix the first problem before he started another. But maybe with Wakka right there he would be able to keep his temper in check. "Wakka, take it away."

Wakka began to explain, and soon both he and Riku were telling Sora about it together. They told him what Sephiroth had said to Wakka, and what Riku had said when Wakka was telling him. After they were done explaining, they were left with a quiet Sora.

"So…" Wakka was impatient for reaction from Sora, "do you want to go?"

Sora ignored him and looked at Riku. "You really wanted to talk to me first before going? After everything that happened?"

Riku sighed, and figured that an apology now was as good a time as any. "Sora, last night was me being stupid. I'm sorry about that; it was really heartless of me. I didn't mean anything that I said or did."

Sora looked at Riku's plate of food and thought. He wanted to forgive Riku, but he had a sneaking suspicion that something like this would happen again, and currently wasn't sure if he could believe him. "Do you really mean that, Riku?"

Riku nodded.

"Then I think we should go. A vacation is what you need, and getting closer to your father will be a bonus as well. Who knows, maybe you'll come to really understand him." Sora looked into Riku's eyes, and they looked tired. A vacation was exactly what Riku needed.

"Alright. We need this vacation." He took another fry from his plate and popped it in his mouth. "Time to start planning."

Wakka pumped his fist in the air. "Score, ya! I'm calling Tidus!" Wakka pulled his jacket on and rocketed out of the café, people watching him with annoyed expressions the whole way.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Guess I'm paying."

Sora snickered, and stole a fry from Riku's plate.

&!&!

Riku had called his dad when they both arrived home, and learned a few details about the vacation. It was true that there wouldn't be work, but there would be important parties that Riku would have to attend. The beach house was currently housing three other brothers as well- theirs was getting renovated and Sephiroth graciously donated some of the rooms for them to stay in for the duration of the renovation. Riku forgot their names already, and didn't care because Sephiroth said that they would be out of everyone's hair.

On the way home from the café, Sora was adamant about Autumn coming too, so Riku also had to address that to his father, which he wasn't excited about doing. He knew that his dad didn't like pets. But, to Riku's complete amazement, Sephiroth allowed Autumn to come without putting up a fight about it. His only request was that she didn't pee on the carpet or wander about the whole house. Sora wasn't too happy about having to keep her in one room, but if that's what it took for her to come then he was fine.

They packed their belongings, and were ready to head to the Gummiport the next morning.

Riku had a sickly feeling of apprehension, and not just because he didn't like warm weather.

&!&!

A/N: I hope you guys liked it! If you did, review, alert, whatever, just know that it might take me a little while to get the two (maybe three) updates from here out because of the length. Please review!