A/N: Alright, so the second chapter couldn't wait. I've lost five hours of precious sleep to deliver this chapter a WEEK ahead of schedule. I hope you enjoy. Of course, if you do, please leave me a review and tell me what you think. Again, if you think the puzzle pieces are starting to come together, feel free to pm me with your guess. PLEASE don't guess or make assumptions in your reviews and spoil it for everyone. It's supposed to be a surprise, but I'll tack on an extra chapter for the first person who figures it out before the big revelation.
Standard Disclaimer:Don't own KH or it's characters, yaddayadda, you know the drill.
Chapter 2: What Friends Are For
"We should probably get going. The girl behind the counter's been shooting us dirty looks for the past twenty minutes." Riku was pretty sure she was visually threatening them with castration if they didn't pack up and leave soon so she could go home and sleep. Judging from the dark circles under her eyes that he could easily make out from across the room and the slouching of her shoulders, she needed it.
"Oh, wow!" Sora exclaimed softly, glancing down at his watch. "When did it get that late?" He'd been so caught up in their conversation, and let's be honest, using every trick in the book to keep Riku's eyes on him, that another hour had passed in a blur. His drink was polished off a while ago, but the silverette was still nursing his as they stood from the table and pushed their chairs in.
Riku hadn't fared any better at keeping track of the time it would seem, but he hardly felt guilty about it. In fact, he was disappointed that it was all coming to an end so soon. He waited patiently for the boy to slip back into his coat and zip up before they made their way to the exit.
Back out in the cold, the two of them stood on the sidewalk, Sora awkwardly shuffling his feet as the door to the cafe locked behind them with a resounding 'click'. Both of them were stalling for a little more time, neither of them realizing it was for the exact same reason.
"So..." It was Sora who finally broke the ice, and he glanced up at Riku with an uncertain smile when he heard the taller male clear his throat. "I guess... this is goodnight."
The melancholy in the brunet's voice clawed viciously at Riku's cold, black heart. "...Yeah, I guess it is. Thank you again for the hot chocolate. It was... magical," he quoted Sora's earlier sentiment, and they both chuckled.
"Don't mention it! It was my pleasure," Sora replied, just before he lowered his eyes back to the wet pavement between them. Already shivering from the harsh, biting wind that had picked up while they were inside, the brunet shifted from one foot to the other, indecision warring within him. "Look," he said after a period of nervous fidgeting. "I'm going to risk coming off as a total creeper by asking you this, but I don't care. I really enjoyed your company tonight, and I would love the chance to get to know you better. Is... there even a snowball's chance in hell that... we could do this again?"
Despite the shock that Sora wanted to see him again, Riku snorted in amusement. Whether it was because he found the wince Sora gave when he looked up at him incredibly cute, how funny it sounded to hear Sora use even the most paltry of indecent words, or because—depending on whose hell it was- snowballs had a pretty high survival rate, he didn't have have time to decide before Sora took it as a solid 'no'.
"Never hurts to ask," the brunet sighed wistfully and allowed his gaze to wander down the street.
"I would like that, actually."
At this, Sora's head snapped back to the silverette and a face splitting smile lit up his features. "R-really?!" Excitement bubbled up inside of him so quick and sure that he could barely contain it.
"Sure," said Riku with a shrug and a lazy smile. "I had a nice time tonight." He still couldn't believe the boy wanted to see him again. He was almost certain after their little ordeal inside that the brunet was only being polite until he could make a clean getaway, but it was all becoming clear now. Sora was genuinely sincere when he said he wanted to know him. He could tell. He could see it in his eyes. "Would you like to exchange numbers?"
"Oh..." Sora flushed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "I don't exactly have a phone."
A fine silver brow lofted at this. What century was this again? Who didn't have a phone these days? Taking it in stride, Riku chuckled and shook his head. "Do you expect me to write to you or something? How are we supposed to get in touch if you don't have a phone?"
Strike one.
"Well... How would you feel about meeting up here tomorrow around three for some lunch? That's usually when I take my break at work," Sora suggested, his voice so very hopeful.
Strike two.
"I'm... kind of indisposed before eight p.m.," Riku said with a grimace. "Sorry."
"Ah... A night owl, huh?" Sora wasn't deterred just yet, determined to make this happen. "Then how about we meet here tomorrow night—or should I say tonight since it's two in the morning- whenever you're free?"
"Sure," Riku agreed with a nod. "I'll try not to keep you up too long past your bedtime, at least." It was so hard not to laugh at the pout that adorned the boy's face, but somehow, he managed. "How's ten sound?"
"That sounds great!" the brunet chirped with a huge grin, rocking back and forth on his feet.
"Alright, it's a date then," Riku replied as suavely as he could, enjoying the flustered, but happy response he received. "Would you like me to walk you home?"
"Nah, that's okay. I don't live far. You should head home and get out of this cold yourself. I'll be fine," Sora promised, warmed by the gesture all the same.
"Alright, if you're sure. I'll... see you tonight, then." The smile Sora shot his way at that made his knees weak. "Goodnight, Sora."
"Goodnight, Riku..." Knowing that if he didn't turn around and start walking in the other direction right now, he wouldn't until Riku was long gone, the brunet spun on his heel and all but skipped across the street and around the corner. Another handful of steps and he was slipping inside his apartment building with a bounce still in his step, feeling like a giddy, love-struck preschooler as he bounded up the stairs two at a time.
Once inside his small, but cozy flat, the brunet proceeded to strip out of his clothes and make a mad dash to the bathroom, eager to chase away the cold with a nice, steamy shower. Twenty minutes later, after he'd used up every last drop of hot water, Sora emerged clean, warm, and humming the tune of Jingle Bells. Swathed in a beat up, off white terrycloth robe, he sidled into the kitchen for a late night snack before he went to bed, making a silent note to call his best friend in the morning to tell her all about his amazing night. Sitting down with a carton of his favorite ice cream, he recounted the night's events with a dreamy smile. He wasn't expecting anything beyond friendship with Riku, but that was alright. A guy could fantasize, couldn't he?
The next time he glanced at the clock, it was 3:30 in the morning and Sora decided he needed to get his butt to bed if he had any hope of getting enough sleep for work in the morning.
Meanwhile...
Almost halfway across the city, Riku wished he had the strength left to even crawl to his bed.
As it was, the silverette made it back to his residence twenty minutes ago, stomach in agonizing knots, and barely made it to the bathroom in time to throw himself to the tiled floor in front of the toilet before everything came up.
It was painful, the vomit bitter and acrid, burning the back of his throat and making his eyes well up with moisture and his face to flush a darker and darker red with every violent heave, but he couldn't wipe the stupid grin off his face if he tried.
"Christ, Riku," came a familiar, drowsy voice from the bathroom doorway, one the silverette didn't bother to acknowledge. He was concentrating too hard on taking in slow, short gasps of breath to keep himself from gagging. It didn't work. Choking, he lunged forward over the porcelain bowl to empty the remaining contents of his stomach. Much to his company's dismay. "Are you alright, man? You woke me up from a dead sleep in here."
"Do I look okay to you, Axel?" Riku managed out eventually, folding back onto his calves. "Ugh... I feel like death shoved its tongue down my throat."
At the rather unpleasant mental image of Riku playing tonsil hockey with the Grim Reaper, the tall, lanky male with wild red spikes and intense green eyes scratched his bare chest and padded over, leaning over his friend to peer into the toilet. Seemingly unphased, Axel gave a low whistle and straightened.
"I think the milk's bad, silverbug," the redhead teased with a smirk, turning away from the 80/20 concoction of blood and something else clouding the toilet's water.
Riku groaned, really not appreciating the double entendre. "Fuck you, Axe."
"No, seriously, what the hell did you ingest? I haven't seen you unload like that since I dared you to eat that jalapeno three years ago."
"Fuck you for that, too. And it was a ghost pepper, you insensitive prick." Wiping his eyes, the silverette allowed his head to drop, the worst seemingly over for now.
Axel merely shrugged and grabbed a wet cloth to help clean the silverette up as said male struggled to his feet and flushed away the evidence. "You still didn't answer my question," he said as he wiped the sweat from Riku's brow and the sheen of red from his lips.
"Hot chocolate," he muttered under his breath, swaying on his feet.
"Why in the- No, you know what? I really don't want to know this time." Sighing, the redhead quickly tossed the rag into the sink and looped an arm around Riku's waist to steady him, giving him a minute to orientate himself before carting him out of the bathroom and into his room to ease him down onto the bed.
"Thanks, Axe." Riku suddenly felt exhausted, and with a yawn, laid down and closed his eyes. Axel disappeared for a minute, but returned with a bottle of water, refusing to let the sliverette sleep until he drank at least some of it.
"Don't puke in my damn bed, Ri," the redhead warned before he flopped down next to him in the dark and promptly fell back asleep.
Riku lay awake with his eyes closed for a little bit longer, thinking of the boy with the thousand megawatt smile and disarming personality he'd met at the park. It came so far out of left field that he still felt blindsided by it. He'd always been the first to look a gift horse in the mouth, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't completely smitten with Sora. He knew the obstacles between tonight and honest to goodness friendship were too great for either of them to overcome, but there was a nagging voice inside of him telling him not to let go quite yet. It told him that he needed the breath of life Sora had breathed into him tonight before he went too far and made a flying leap into his final resting place.
It didn't take long after that for him to drift off to sleep, grinning like an idiot.
The next morning, Sora was up bright and early, slipping out of his apartment, still in his pajamas. Just a short walk down down the hall, he unlocked his best friend's front door with his spare key and walked in like he usually did, like he belonged there. Quietly though, he tiptoed across the living room and down the hall in case she was still sleeping and poked his head into her bedroom.
Kairi was barely awake enough to register that the sun was up, let alone that someone was crawling into her bed with her at seven in the morning. Once her brain finally caught up with this information, however, she smiled and snuggled up to his side.
"You know," she drawled after a big yawn. "It's a really good thing that I don't have a boyfriend right now, or this would be really awkward."
"If your boyfriend can't accept that your best friend likes to crawl into bed with you on occasion, I don't think I can approve of him and might even suggest you dump the neanderthal before things get too serious," replied the cheeky brunet as he flung an arm over her, making her giggle.
"How are you feeling today?" Kairi asked, her voice taking on that motherly tone she was well known for.
"I feel great. Couldn't be better," he answered honestly, giving her a bright, sunny smile. "In fact, I feel so good I'm practically floating on thin air."
"Thin air, huh?" Kairi took the bait, curious as to what had her lifelong friend in such a splendid mood when he'd sounded so down on the phone yesterday afternoon.
"Well..." Sora paused for dramatic effect and sat up, biting his lip as he folded his legs and tucked his hands into his lap. It took every ounce of his self control not to spill everything in one breath like some babbling lunatic. "I met someone last night."
At this news, Kairi's eyes widened and she slowly sat up, never mind that she was clad in nothing but a pink cotton cami and matching panties(it wasn't anything Sora hadn't seen a million times before, anyway), to stare at him with a stupefied expression on her face.
"You... met someone?" the redheaded girl echoed, just to be sure she heard him correctly and wasn't still dreaming."How? Where?" Now that she was sure she was completely awake, she could see that this turn of events had made a huge impact on her friend. He was positively glowing this morning.
"In the park on my way back from Church," Sora supplied innocently, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Kairi didn't seem to think so. "In the middle of the night?!" she all but shrieked in disbelief. "Sora!"
"Relax! Relax! Everything went fine, Kai!" Sora laughed and took her hands in his, giving them a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "I was on my way back from Church, like I said, and I was still feeling kinda gloomy, so I took the longer route home. I was just walking along, minding my own business and thinking about what I'd prayed for, looked up, and there he was. He was just sitting on a bench, all by himself in the dark, and he looked so... lonely. I just had to talk to him," the brunet explained, his baby blues pleading with Kairi to understand.
"Had to my right boob, Sora," she hissed. "One of these days you're going to find yourself in a world of trouble, talking to strangers like that." Finally, she caved under the pressure of that look and sighed. "Fine, what's he like?" she asked, still unable to shake the concern for her friend from her voice. She couldn't help it, she would always worry about Sora. He was too trusting for his own good, and there were so many terrible people in the world that would take advantage of that.
"He's nice, Kai," Sora insisted. "He's nice, and sweet, and shy. His name is Riku, and we're going to meet for drinks again tonight at Merlin's. I just know you would like him. There's nothing not to like."
As skeptical as she was about this Riku character, she couldn't deny that she hadn't seen Sora this worked up over a guy since the seventh grade when one of the actors from his favorite TV show came to town for a book signing. She wanted to be excited for him—she really did, but she couldn't help but wonder what all of this meant to Sora. Sora was a social butterfly, Sora loved people, Sora deserved to be happy more than anyone else she knew... but Sora didn't date. Sora didn't do intimacy period, and as far as she knew, he hadn't even been looking for a boyfriend.
"Personality isn't everything, you know," Kairi shrewdly remarked, not quite sold on this guy yet. "What's he look like?"
Sora was all too happy to divulge this information in great detail. "Ugh, he's gorgeous, Kai. He's maybe a head taller than me, maybe a little on the thin side, but he's got a great body from what I can see. Believe it or not, but he's got this long, silver hair. That's right, silver, and it looks so soft. Then, he's got these- these eyes." With a groan that bordered on downright lewd, Sora threw himself back onto the mattress and stared up at the ceiling with a dazed smile. "He's got these bright, beautiful green eyes that'll take your breath away. He says they make people uncomfortable, but I really think they're just afraid of drowning in them." Sora was well aware of how infatuated he sounded right now, but he didn't care. If he didn't get it off his chest now, he was going to explode.
Beside him, Kairi was quite for a long time. "He sounds really wonderful, Sora, but are you sure he'll be understanding of your... situation?" Concern was clearly etched onto her face as she reached out to take his hand again. "I don't want to see you get hurt."
"... I know," Sora replied softly, some of his joy evaporating. "You don't have to worry about that. As much as I want it, it'll never get that far with him, and I'm okay with that, really." Convincing her of that would be much harder than convincing himself, though. "I just... I prayed so hard, Kai... Harder than I ever have in my life. Someone had to have heard me this time," he explained weakly, his voice suddenly cracking in an effort to hold back his emotions.
"What... What exactly did you pray for, Sora?" she asked, her own voice barely above a whisper. For a long time, Sora didn't answer. She almost began to believe that he wouldn't.
"...I prayed that for one Christmas—just one- I wouldn't be alone. Even if it is the last Christmas I ever celebrate. I just want to know, no matter how short lived it is, what it's like to fall in love with someone."
"Oh, Sora... Honey," Kairi cooed, tears springing to her eyes as she pulled Sora up so she could envelope him in a fierce hug. Sora knew that he was never truly alone, that he would always have her, but Kairi understood what he meant, and it drove a knife through her heart that he even had to ask God for such a thing. Her best friend had so much love to give and no one special in his life to share it with. As much as he loved people, he was so afraid of hurting someone he cared that deeply for, that he refused to allow anyone too close, dooming his chances at ever finding the person who would set his heart free.
Silently, as they both shed silent tears on her bed, Kairi hoped like hell that if Riku really was a gift from God, that he could work miracles, too.
Please review! You all are my inspiration to continue writing!
