Title: Summer Nights (By Rascal Flatts)

WARNING- This chapter is rated T for the following: Language and PG13 content.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts franchise

BBBBBBRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!

Finally, summer vacation was here. After 180 days learning about stupid Agrabah and stupid algebra, summer was finally here! As I left that classroom for the last time in months, I bumped into Xion in the hall.

"Hey Kairi, are the plans still on for tonight?" She asked as she was passing with Riku. I nodded

"Of course, it's a tradition, remember?" I saw her smile before they turned the corner and I just rushed to my locker. I was so excited to leave and meet up with the gang. You see, it's been a 4 year running tradition that our group spends the night of the last day of school together. We make a bonfire, go swimming, and just basically kick off the summer with a bang.

I chuckled as I felt relieved that Axel was still at Twilight Town University and couldn't take that expression literally. In the past, our fiery redheaded pyromaniac had brought fireworks to the meet up. Let's just say that did not end well. I ran out to the parking lot with all my stuff to see that familiar spiky head of hair poking out over the roof of a car. I ran over to see everybody there. Namine, Selphie, Xion, Tidus, Riku, Roxas, and of course, Sora, my best friend.

"Hey, what took you so long Kai?" Sora asked, grabbing my bag and hauling it in the back of his car.

"Sorry, I got caught up in all the memories. I was just thinking how relieved I was that Axel can't make it."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Roxas asked, defending his best friend. We all just laughed because as much as we loved Roxas and Axel, they were even worse than Roxas and Sora together, and that was pretty bad to say the least.

"Well, come on then we're wasting time. Let's get going. We should meet up at Destiny Dairy, alright? Nobody's got any shifts tonight, right?" Sora asked. Everyone shook their heads no as they started climbing in their cars. "Perfect. Be there by 7 everyone." They all nodded and we broke off into our own separate little groups. I climbed into the front seat of Sora's car as he quickly pulled out of the junior lot and sped off towards our houses.

"Aren't you excited, Sora?" I asked, almost jumping up and down. He just laughed and combed a hand through that ridiculous spiky mess he called hair.

"Yeah..." He trailed off and I could tell he was thinking. His answer wasn't completely honest. His lips scrunched up as his hands gripped the steering wheel and his eyes watched the road ahead. "I guess I just have a weird feeling about this summer." He said kind of worriedly.

"Is it good or bad?" I asked, rolling down the window and letting the island winds blow my hair around. I observed the heavy amounts of traffic we were already running into, and it was only the beginning of June.

"Neither. It's just... I have a feeling this summer is gonna be way different from the others, you know what I mean? Like, I can't help but feel like something big is going to happen." Sora said.

"Wow, you've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Sora was never this philosophical unless he'd been thinking which also meant he was serious. And Sora was hardly serious. He just shrugged and kept his eyes on the road. I noticed how his blue eyes looked a shade brighter in the sunlight. 'Wow, he's cute. NO, Kairi, stop yourself'.

"It's nothing Kai, I've just got this weird feeling. We'll see how tonight goes first. Speaking of, what do you wanna do for the next 4 hours before we meet up with everybody?" Sora asked as he pulled into his driveway. We've lived right beside each other for the past 12 years and we somehow maintained our friendship through the "I'm-too-cool-for-you" middle school phase most boys go through. Then Namine and Riku came along and the rest is pretty much history.

I followed him into his house to see that it was empty. I wasn't surprised. Sora's mother was a nurse at Destiny Island Local Hospital and tended to take extra shifts all the time. It was just Sora's mother ever since Sora's dad ran out on them. That's why they moved to the island in the first place.

"So we got a few hours to kill, what would you like to do?" Sora asked me, turning around and grinning at me lazily. He really needed to stop that...

"Well, I think it's safe to say we've seen just about every movie ten times so what do you think?" I asked, padding over to his freezer and pulling out a cherry popsicle. I turned around to see him standing on the staircase with a smirk on his face. I shook my head but smiled anyways and made my way up the stairs. He followed behind me as I walked into the first door on the left.

It was his bedroom. Whenever we didn't feel like watching a movie or playing video games or whatnot, we came up here. Well, Sora would convince me to come up here so he could take a nap. His room was surprisingly neat for a boy. His bed was made, there weren't clothes strewn about, and best of all, you could see the floor.

I plopped myself down on his bed, sitting against the wall and making sure my popsicle didn't melt on anything. Sora groaned as he threw himself face first onto the covers and I laughed.

"I'm so tired Kairi." He mumbled, putting his head in my lap. My heart sped up and my stomach immediately fluttered as I felt myself blush. Despite the jumble of feelings, I managed to run my hands through his hair. He hummed in approval and I smiled. "Kairi?"

"Yeah?" I asked. He cracked an eye open and smiled up at me sleepily.

"I'm glad we're best friends." He said before closing his eyes and slipping back into sleep.

But there it was. The F word. Friends. I sighed as I ran my hands through his spikes, finishing up my popsicle and letting my mind wander.

Sora was my best friend, that was true. But lately, I began to notice I felt a lot more towards him than best friends could describe. I just saw him differently. Whenever I looked in his eyes, I felt my pulse jump and my throat would go dry. Whenever he smiled at me, this warmth just flooded my veins and I felt every nerve tingle across my body. And on the occasions where his arm would just brush against mine, all of the above would happen. I sighed again, gently placing his head against his pillow and wandering back downstairs.

I knew it was happening. It had been for years. And for years I had the power to push it back, but lately I was losing the will to do it. Whenever he was around, it was a constant fight between my body and my brain. I just wanted to push him against the wall and kiss him, but at the same time I knew I could never do it. 12 years worth of friendship would be destroyed in a second.

I ran a hand through my hair as I wandered further down the house. I opened the door to the basement and followed the steps into the studio. The walls were covered in sound panels, and there were two stools in the middle of the room. About ten guitars sat in stands on the ground, lining the wall. I didn't know how to play them, but Sora did. It's beyond cliché, I know. But he was great.

I sat on a stool and thought back to the last time we had been here, about a week ago...

Sora was strumming his guitar mindlessly and humming along to some song. I recognized it immediately, it was both of our favorites. I just watched, my eyes never leaving his hands. Suddenly, he laughed and stopped strumming, placing the guitar down. "You've got that face on Kairi." He said with a smirk.

"What face? I don't have a face."

"Yes you do. It's your 'my mind is miles away face'. Where's your head at?" He asked, directing all his attention to me. Truthfully, my mind was somewhere it really shouldn't have been.

"It's nowhere, I was just thinking." I said, trying my best to avoid lying to him. He sighed heavily, seeing right through it.

"Kai... you've been distracted lately. Is everything okay?" He asked, resting a hand on my knee. I tried to ignore the jolt of electricity that I felt.

"Yeah Sora. I've just had a lot on my mind ya know?" I said, smiling. He frowned and moved his stool closer.

"Kairi, I'm your best friend, you know I'm always here to talk."

"Of course I know that. It's just... a girl thing." I technically wasn't lying.

"Is it a guy?" I couldn't place it in his voice and his eyes, but there was this feeling that I'd never really heard or saw in him before. He sighed and looked down at his knees before looking me straight in the eye. His blue eyes shone with sincerity. "Cause' if it is... I want you to be happy."

"Sora, trust me, if I liked some guy, I would tell you in a heartbeat." I said with a smile. Now that wasn't technically a lie either because one, Sora was not just some guy, and two, because I didn't think I just liked him.

"Promise?" He asked, his eyes flickering. I just nodded and watched the smile pop back onto his face, which made the corners of my lips tug upwards.

Looking back on it, I felt guilty but I knew I had to lie to him. I knew Sora and I would always be friends, but even if I confessed my feelings, things would never be the same between us. I sighed and sat down, trying to sort through the mess of thoughts.

"Hey sorry about that." I turned around to see Sora scratching the back of his neck. I giggled as he made his way down to his spot. He picked up a guitar along the way and plopped down with a smile. "So, where were we last week?" He asked. I just blushed as he started to strum that same song...

Seven o'clock finally rolled around and after making a mess trying to cook mac n cheese, Sora and I headed out to Destiny Dairy. We decided to go on foot since it was going to be a long night. We joked and teased in our familiar banter the whole way there. We were the last ones to get there though as we saw the rest of the gang eating sea salt ice cream.

"Don't worry I'll get ours Kai." Sora said, running up to the order window. I plopped down next to Namine and across from Selphie.

"Riku, for the last time, I didn't cheat on my history exam!" Selphie yelled across the table. I laughed, realizing I walked into another argument. Selphie and Riku typically fought like cats and dogs, but deep down they really did care about each other. It was just deeper down than most friendships

"It's just impossible to get a 100 on a worlds history final!" He exclaimed, waving his ice cream around for emphasis.

"No, it's this thing called studying. You should try it sometime instead of using the internet just to look up por-"

"Whoa, I'm glad I missed out on this conversation." Sora said quickly, taking a seat next to me on the end. He handed me the blue creamy treat and smiled. "Don't worry, it's on me." He said. This boy was going to kill me. I blushed and accepted the treat as Riku and Selphie went back to their debate.

"Besides doofus, there's another thing called a grade curve." She said smugly. We all just laughed when Riku shook his head at his defeat.

We sat there for a good 30 minutes talking about our summer plans. We were all beyond psyched and it was just the beginning of summer.

"So I hear there's a party up at Leon's on Friday. You guys going?" Roxas asked. Everyone seemed to be game for it. Leon's parties were notorious to Destiny Island.

"Do you guys want to start towards the beach now? It's getting dark enough and the beach is on the other side of town" Tidus suggested. We all agreed and started heading towards the beach.

Whenever the whole group was around, there wasn't a single boring moment. We all joked and teased and reminisced the whole way to the beach. After all, we had four years of embarrassing stories and adventures to look back on. I laughed as I thought back on all of it. Even then, I was still pushing back those feelings for Sora. And here we were, the last summer before adulthood and I couldn't believe it.

"Guys, we're going to be seniors. This is crazy." I said, looking around at everybody. We had learned that our group would be parting ways early next summer. Selphie would most likely be accepted on early admissions at Hollow Bastion University, which was the best Ivy League around. Tidus would have to leave early for whatever sports team he played on in college. And knowing Xion, she'd probably take the first ship out of here after graduation to fulfill her dream of travelling.

"Aw, Kairi are you trying to bum us out." Xion said, bumping into my side

"We've got the whole summer, right guys?" Sora said, trying to cheer me up.

"Yeah, and it's gonna be the best one yet!" Riku cheered as he sprinted ahead onto the beach that lay deserted before us. The others ran after him, laughing and I joined them, running into the waters. We were in knee-high water, splashing around and having fun, and it really felt like summer. All the worries left my mind as we just fooled around, screaming and laughing, and just being kids.

After about an hour of being in the water, we all got out and started to look for spare logs and wood to make a bonfire. I broke off and went to look around the area with Namine.

"So, you and Roxas seem to be pretty close." I said, trying to bring up conversation. Lately, they were always together in the hallways and I found it strange. She blushed bright pink and turned away, picking up a small log.

"Oh yeah, he's a good friend." She said. That surprised me.

"Really?"

"Well... yeah. I don't know, he's just different I guess. We kind of get each other if you know what I mean." Nami said quietly, blushing. Huh, so they were closer than I thought. I decided not to pry though and dropped it.

"Yeah I get what you mean." I said as we headed back.

"Do you think we've got enough?" She asked as I looked at the pile.

"Yeah, besides Riku and Tidus are still out." I said as Roxas got to work on lighting the kindle. As the fire was picking up, Riku and Tidus appeared with two armfuls of wood, which amounted to the perfect size. We all sat on the logs we had gathered to place around the outside. I sat next to Sora.

"Okay, let's get started." Riku said, reaching into his bag and bringing out about four bottles of Gephetto's elixir (1). He passed them around, each person taking what they wanted. Sora grabbed a Cherry flavored bottle and smirked at me, making my stomach flutter again. He passed the rest onto Roxas who sat beside him.

"Sorry, looks like we're sharing." He said cheekily before popping off the cap and taking a sip. I rolled my eyes and looked around to see who else chose to drink tonight. Riku and Xion had their own bottles, both of the same Vanilla flavor, and I rolled my eyes. They would refuse to share. I looked at Roxas, expecting to see him with a bottle but he seemed to be empty-handed. Soon, all eyes were on him.

"What? I don't feel like drinking tonight." He said, shrugging. Namine looked at him too, but she looked proud almost. But wait, if Roxas didn't take the last bottle, then...

Pop!

We all turned to the source of the sound to see Selphie with a bottle straight in the air and her head thrown back, gulping back the Raspberry flavored elixir. She finally brought the bottle down and swallowed the last of what was in her mouth. She didn't even flinch, hell my throat burned just thinking about it!

"What? I can't drink or something." She said, looking around at the pairs of eyes fixed on her. She just leaned back and tilted the bottle towards Tidus. "Want any?" He just shook his head, too shocked for words.

"Okay... well let's start the game before everybody gets drunk." Sora said, trying to get everybody's attention back on the same page.

"I'll go first." Xion offered, taking a gulp of her elixir. "I'll chose truth."

"Alright, how far have you gone with a guy this year?" Riku asked. Our little group had a system. Riku came up with the dares and truths for everybody since he had a knack for raising the stakes so it wasn't a boring middle school game anymore. When it was Riku's turn, the person who asked Riku would have to make up the truth or dare for him.

Xion shrugged thinking about it. "I guess second base, but really Riku, the first question and right off the bat your mind is in the gutter?" She teased.

"I'll go next! Pick me! Selphie said as her hand shot straight up, nearly bringing her body with it.

"Ok Selphie, truth or dare?" Xion asked her.

"Dare."

"Hmmm... let's see. Oh I got it. I dare you to finish that bottle of elixir. Chug it." Riku said. This was so not a good idea. I went to say something but Selphie already had the bottom of the bottle pointed at the stars. It took her a good ten or fifteen seconds before it was drained. She slammed it down on the sand and punched the air with her fists.

"Victory!" She was definitely tipsy but we all laughed at the display. "Okay, now... Tidus, truth or dare?" She asked, turning to look over at Tidus.

"Um... truth."

"Who's the hottest girl in our grade?"

"Um... I guess Alice?" He said, referring to the ditsy blonde who was infamous for getting wasted, high, or both at every party she attended. He seemed pretty unsure of his answer but I waved it off given that he seemed pretty uncomfortable with Selphie's tipsy outburst. "Ok Roxas, your turn."

"Truth." All the guys seemed to be chickening out. Axel would be extremely disappointed at this.

"How many girls have you hit already?" Riku asked.

"Dude, can you back off with the personal sexual questions?" Sora said authoritatively. Riku just nodded and went back to thinking. Nobody questioned Sora's leadership. He was just the leader. "Alright I've got a new one. How many girls do you want to hit?" Or maybe not. I mentally face-palmed. Riku was gonna get slapped by the end of the night, I felt it.

"Well, to answer the first question, none." I couldn't help but let my jaw drop in surprise. Roxas was a virgin? "And to answer your second question I wouldn't necessarily say I want to do her, but there is one girl. Ok Nami, your turn."

"Dare." The only dares so far were Namine's and Selphie's. At least someone was stepping up to the plate

"Really Nam?" Riku asked, rolling his eyes. She just nodded persistently. "Okay then. I dare you to ask a truth." Riku said.

"That's totally cheating Riku!" Selphie exclaimed from her slumped position against the log Tidus was sitting on. "If I were you, I'd dare her to drink the tasty elixir that I had. What was it, raspberry right? The bottle's here somewhere..." She was definitely drunk off her ass. We all burst out laughing at drunk Selphie and took a minute to get it together before going back to the game.

"Alright, I'll go with truth since Riku's off his game tonight." Namine said

"Well then, is it true you've never kissed anybody?" Riku asked. Namine paused and I found it strange because as far as I kne she hadn't.

"Yeah, I thought everybody knew." She said with a giggle, and I had a feeling it was a little too fake. I glanced over at Sora and he seemed to be thinking the same thing. My eyes flickered over to Riku

"Really? You mean never?" He asked one more time, pushing for the truth. Namine just pursed her lips together and nodded. She spoke before anyone could question her further. "Sora, it's your turn."

"I'm going with truth, since Namine's right, you suck tonight Riku." We all laughed at Riku's expense one last time.

"Ha, very funny. Well then I guess you wouldn't mind telling me what you and Yuna have been up to lately, huh?" Riku said. Yuna? Who's Yuna?

"Who's Yuna?" I asked, getting suspicious at the look on Sora's face. He looked kind of pissed, and Sora never really got angry.

"Nothing. Nobody." He said to Riku and me respectively. He sighed and ran a hand through his chocolate spikes, shaking his head. "Look, she's Rikku's younger sister. She's going into tenth and she's got this weird crush on me. She works at the surf shop but I mean, I don't see her that way." He explained.

"I believe him, she's kind of obsessed but he's just trying to be nice." Roxas said. I finally let myself relax. I trusted Roxas, he wouldn't lie about that. Neither would Sora, but considering I didn't even know about Yuna, I started to get angry. I wondered why Yuna didn't tell me. We talked about everything. Or at least, we used to...

"Kairi, you wanna go?" He asked turning to me.

"I'll say truth. Do your worst Riku." I said, trying my best not to let my confusion show. Riku smirked and I was suddenly nervous I made the wrong choice.

"Well, I heard a pretty interesting rumor. Is it true that Cloud's trying to get with you again?" Damn, I really should've chosen dare.

"What?!" Sora yelled, whipping to face me. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Okay, would any of you honestly believe that? I don't think he is, I haven't talked to Cloud in who knows how long. And he hasn't talked to me in even longer." I explained. Everybody believed it of course, after all it was the truth. I tried to move the subject on. "Riku, you're the only one that hasn't gone."

"I think we should skip Riku and go swimming!" Selphie yelled, snapping out of her buzzed stupor and running towards the beach. In a matter of five seconds, she dove in and popped back up, splashing hers arms about in the waves.

"I'm with Selphie. Riku, you suck." Xion said, taking off for the waters. Soon the rest of them were laughing and running into the water except for me and Sora.

"Look Kairi I'm sorry about... over reacting." He admitted, trying to look me in the eye. I, on the other hand, was trying my hardest to look at anything but him.

"Well you didn't really have a right to." I muttered, crossing my arms.

"What's that supposed to mean? Kairi you know how I feel about the guy. He's such a dick."

"Yeah but it wasn't even true! Besides, who cares if Cloud ever flirted with me or wanted to quote-unquote "get with me". I'd never actually let him get within two feet of me." I snapped harshly. "But apparently whoever this Yuna girl is has some huge crush on you right? And that's true." I said, getting angry. I couldn't tell if it was the elixir or not but I didn't feel like calming down. He sat there and stared at the sand, a silence settled between us. I felt guilty for snapping like that, but the elixir was definitely responsible for it. My anger was replaced by sadness as I looked a him again. "Don't you trust me?"

"Oh Kairi..." Sora pulled me into a hug and I just wrapped my arms around his torso. For once I didn't care about how my body reacted, I just needed it. I didn't feel jumpy or tingly, or anything. I felt calm, like the contact just settled everything in me and I breathed deeply, feeling comfort invade every inch of my body. I felt his cheek rest on the top of my head and I realized how right it felt to be like this. "Kairi, of course I trust you." He said softly, running a hand through my hair soothingly. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Yuna. I just didn't know you'd want to know about that stuff." He said, his voice trailing off at the end. I grudgingly pulled away from his arms to glance up at him.

"Of course I would. I'm your best friend Sora." I said, smiling up at him. He grinned back at me and took a step backward.

"Alright. From now on, I'll tell you whenever girls find me irresistibly charming and attractive, as long as you do the same. Deal?"

"Sounds good to me." I said. He just grinned down at me and grabbed my hand.

"Well then come on, they look like they're having a blast." He said, tugging me towards the waves.

And if one thing is for sure, it definitely wasn't the elixir that was making me feel dizzy and light-headed.

A.N.- Okay so that was the first chapter. I really wanted to steer clear from cliche's but I'm kind of glad I threw in the music because it gives them more to do than watch movies all the time. Now I didn't specify what song Sora was playing because it's gonna have a bigger part in the story than just this chapter. I have a few songs in mind but suggestions are welcome!

OH P.S.- The whole portion that was in Italics was a flashback if you didn't pick that up.

And I am terrible at Truth or Dare, therefore I am equally as terrible at writing it out and so I'm sorry if reading it was rather tedious because writing it sure as hell was.

Oh and don't worry about the other characters, we'll get some direct insight into their relationships and lives in the next two or three chapters.

(1)- Gephetto's elixir is like the equivalent to Smirnoff Vodka in this story. If you don't know what that is, then Google.

Any comments/concerns/suggestions are welcomed! I love feedback and I hope you enjoyed it!