sorry it took so long. one week of school left and i'm free!! well, for the summer. which means i can finish all my stories i have going!
this chapter was fun.
and i think i've accomplished a very interesting riku and sora...
i'm going to have so much fun with this...
review, please?
(and by the way, for the people who haven't caught on, sora's test results weren't true. he doesn't have cancer. at all. the end.)

Incurable

The hotel suite was far more than Sora was expecting. He had been expecting two rooms connected by a simplistic bathroom; nothing extravagant nor fancy. What the brunet got was three rooms and a bathroom, each lavishly decorated with a phone in each, a fridge, and any other necessity that one would need to survive. The suite was truly something out of a fairytale or dream. Sora's jaw instantly dropped, his grip on his bags temporarily losing. The brown containers fell to the floor and nearly s napped open and spilled their contents. However, the small makeshift lock on each prevented such an act from happening. Still, the dropping of the hard bags produced a notable thud against the tiled hallway entrance.

"Wholy…shit," the brunet teenager whispered under his breath. Blue eyes widened to triple their size as he slowly took in everything—the paintings, the crown molding, and especially the breathtaking view of the city from the small sitting room at the end of the hall.

"Close your mouth, flies are going to buzz in," Riku murmured as he pushed past his best friend and headed down the hallway after his perky mother.

Sora snapped out of his reveries and watched Riku and the boy's mother trot down to the two doors on either end of the hallway. Ms. Karada disappeared into the left room—presumably the bedroom—and Riku to the right. Sora scrunched his nose up and watched the two Karadas disperse. The brunet remained in the hallway, recollecting his objects from the door. He dragged them down to the doors and nudged the right one open, following after his best friend. He figured he would be boarding with Riku. That was the most reasonable conclusion Sora came to in that moment.

When Sora finally wiggled his way into the massive, brightly lit room, Riku was standing near the bed with a stunned, pale look. The silveret was just standing there, saying nothing and doing nothing. Shouldn't he be unpacking and taking advantage of the television and mini fridge and everything else?!

"Riku, what's wrong?" the brunet questioned as he closed the door, dropping his suitcases by the door. He paused and looked over to the bed.

See, that was the very problem. It was the bed. There was no 'the beds', just 'the bed'. Sora blinked a few times and sauntered over, leaving his belongings where they laid. The blue-eyed teen inspected the king-sized bed for a few moments before laughing apprehensively. Now he understood why Riku had just been staring at the bed with disbelief and skepticism.

"One bed, huh…" Sora drawled as his arms came to rest across his chest.

"Yup…" Riku trailed off and gingerly ran his hand across the plush comforter. "At least it's king-size…"

"Agreed," Sora mused quietly and looked to his friend with a weary look. "It's King-size. It won't be awkward, I promise. We've shared beds before, right? No big deal, right?"

"Of course not," Riku agreed in a grumble, scratching the nape of his neck. His silver bangs concealed his puzzled and rather troubled aquamarine hues. "It's just the fact that there are only two beds in this suite that bothers me. I guess Mom never called in the correction to the reservations…"

"Oh, right!" Sora exclaimed and nodded vigorously. "Your mom reserved the suite before I said I could go, right?" Riku nodded simply and touched the single bed again. "I get it…Well, no big deal, right?"

"Right," Riku mumbled once again and allowed his fingertips to trace a few incoherent shapes onto the comforter. His lips pressed into a thin line. "I snore, you know. You might end up kicking me out of the room tonight."

Sora snorted in amusement. "We always sleep in the same room, you idiot. We did the other night. I didn't mind your slight snoring."

"You say that now," Riku chuckled and finally sat down on the bed. The teen leaned his chin into the valley his two cupped hands made. "Here, sit and talk with me for a bit. Mom said we won't be leaving for dinner for another hour so we have some free time to bullshit."

Sora smiled warmly at Riku's smirk. "I'd love—" he began but then paused. "Crap! I was supposed to call my mom the moment we got out of the airport!" he squeaked and lunged away from the bed. The brunet scrambled over to his bags and began digging through them, tanned hands fumbling to find his cell phone . Once done, he quickly dialed his mother's number and waited. And waited.

"…What's the are code for the United States?" the brunet questioned uneasily. He peered over at the bureau beside the bed. "Riku, there should be a phonebook in there. Can you pass it here?"

"Sure thing," Riku said and did as he was instructed. After a moment the silveret wandered over and handed Sora a rather large, yellow phonebook.

"Thanks," Sora cooed and smiled up at his friend.

Riku mirrored the smile and went back over to the bed. As Sora messed with his phone, the silveret dragged his bags onto the bed to begin unpacking. His hands carefully undid the zippers and belts and whatnot of the suitcases until the first one slipped open. The older teen idly flipped through a few shirts, toothbrushes, pants, and so on until he paused at a single letter. He bit his bottom lip and lifted the paper from suitcase, passing a conscious glance over to his spiky-haired friend. Good, he was still messing with his phone. Riku leaned back against the wooden headboard and inspected the letter.

Dear Sora,

I know I'm a coward for telling you all of this in a letter, but I believe that I'm madly in love with you. I've never felt this strongly about a person before. I can't look away when we get locked in a stare. I can't breathe when you laugh and smile at me. I can't imagine a world without you. I've never been eloquent with words or romantic but you make me different. Sora, I love you so much and I just wanted you to know. I know that nothing will ever happen between us but I just needed to get this off my chest. I wish you luck with Kairi or any other girl you get involved with. Just know that I'm always for you.

I just can't fall out of love with you, Sora…I'm sorry.

Riku

Riku sighed and folded the letter back up. That was from a few months ago when Sora was crushing on some girl named Kairi. The silveret had decided to write up a letter explaining how he felt but he never got around to delivering it. He sighed yet again, almost regretting never having passed the letter to another pair of hands. Nostalgic sea green eyes stared down at the folded letter before shoving it back into his things. That letter, he decided, would never see the light of day again.

Riku had his reasons. The silveret had bluntly hit on Sora thousands of times prior to the trip. Nothing ever seemed to work. And that comment earlier regarding not staying here forever with him? Well, that hurt. However, as Riku sat there, a cold chill ran down his spine. What if Sora really did have cancer? What if he died and Riku never got to tell him?

Riku sat there indecisively for a few more moments before Sora's rambling broke him from his trance.

"I hate international phone calls!" the brunet moaned as he began repeatedly bashing his head against his palm.

"Why's that?" Riku slipped off the bed, once the letter was safely hidden, and sauntered over. The silveret casually leaned down and peered at Sora's cell phone. "Can't get through to her?"

"Oh, I did," Sora clarified and lowered his hand from his head. He chuckled uneasily. "But look at the popup on my cell phone. Just take a look. I have a prepaid cell phone so it automatically tells me how much my calls are."

Riku took Sora's blue phone from him and clicked the green button. And there was a popup on the screen indeed. The silveret read it over then snorted in amusement. "Fifteen bucks. Nice, Sora. For a two minute phone call. That's epic."

Sora greedily snatched his phone back and stuck his tongue out, blue eyes shimmering childishly. "It is not epic. It's ridiculous and I'm going to tell my mom that the next time I call her!"

"You do that," Riku cooed and rolled his eyes. The teen wandered back over to the bed and sat back down. He lazily crossed his legs and began removing all his clothes. He placed the shirts in one pile, the boxers in another…

"You have flame boxers?"

Sora was peering over his shoulder, staring at the things Riku unpacked. The silveret stiffened. He didn't like having his best friend standing behind him, looking over his shoulder. "I do," he murmured and held his hand cautiously over the flame-adorned undergarment. "Is that a problem?"

"It's cool," Sora elucidated with a brilliant smile that was invisible to Riku. "I had a pair like that a few years ago until our dog got to them. The poor things…"

"Why are we talking about boxers?" Riku asked after a moment of awkward silence. He began unpacking once again, biting his bottom lip all the while.

"Because we're guys but more specifically best friends. It's not like we're standing here staring at each other naked or something random like that," the brunet giggled and ran a hand through his untamable brown spikes of hair. Sora's smile always seemed to illuminate a room.

"…Just no," Riku stated and shook his head. "Don't ever say that again."

Sora scrunched his nose up and tilted his head in confusion. "What? Us naked in the same room?"

"Yes, that," Riku murmured and placed a grey shirt on top of the shirt pile. "It's odd and just something you don't say out loud."

Well damn, he just messed up that one!

"Outloud?" Sora repeated and licked his lips negligently. "So they're all right to think but not say? That's kind of really creepy. I don't get it."

"I didn't mean it like that." Riku's hand greeted his forehead in a reunion that would make any person jealous. A groan leaked from the silveret's lips as he breathed in deeply. "What I meant to say was that those random thoughts are meant to stay inside your head, Sora. Not to dwell on, but just to keep to yourself. I didn't mean it in the perverted way," he clarified.

"Oh! Well, I'm dumb!" Sora reasoned and laughed embarrassedly. The brunet quickly sat down next to his best friend and smiled softly. "Sorry. I know I'm being weird. I just…I don't know. Being in another country is just making me feel weird I suppose."

Or it's your fear of dying that's speaking, Riku thought lamely. His agile fingers toyed with the collar of a shirt as he absorbed Sora's words. "Yes, that must be it."

"So, do you like Rome so far?" the brunet asked, intently watching his friend unpack, having no desire to do the same.

"It's nice," Riku commented simplistically and closed his eyes. "It's everything I expected. So far, I mean. I can't wait to see the Trevi Fountain, though. That's the first thing I want to go visit."

"We can take a picture together there!" Sora exclaimed happily and continued smiling radiantly at Riku. "And then after the trip we can make a scrapbook of all our pictures! And we can make a copy of it so each of us can have a copy!"

"Sora…you're way too perky," Riku said and looked over at the brunet. He smiled nonchalantly and nudged his friend in the shoulder. "But I like you that way."

"You better," Sora hummed and scrunched his nose up playfully. His blue eyes averted themselves from Riku's green and wandered over to the electrical socket that was visible from the bed. "It's one of those crazy ones I've heard about…"

"What is?" Riku questioned as he placed a pair of pants down.

"Those sockets," Sora explained and stared at it inquisitively.

"Oh. Then don't touch it."

"I wasn't going to!" Sora huffed and bit his bottom lip. "I'm not going to stupidly go over there, shove a plug in, and then watched in amusement as the whole building goes up in flames," though he did not have an ephemeral thought of plugging in his iPod to charge. Of course, that planned backfired due to his rant. He didn't want the hotel to burn down!

"Sure, Sora, sure," Riku hummed and rolled his eyes on cue.

"Why must you be so mean to me?!" Sora mocked anger and dramatically fell off the bed, holding his hand to his heart. When he did fall to the floor, he ruptured into a fit of laughter. His cheeks stained red and his body trembled with amusement.

"You're crazy," Riku concluded as he peered over the side of the bed, down at Sora. "Crazy and clumsy."

"I did that on purpose," Sora reasoned and smiled up at Riku. His brown bangs fell elegantly down onto his youthful face.

Riku swallowed hard. It was as if he was staring down at Sora, beneath him… He shook away that thought quickly, as he had done with the letter. "On second thought, why don't you go over and try those sockets out? You might make a new friend with Mr. Fire."

"Jerk," Sora laughed and stuck his tongue out, refusing to get up off the comfortable floor. Even the floor smelt nice for heaven's sake!

"If you stick that tongue out long enough I'm going to bite it off," Riku murmured amusedly as he returned to unpacking. He wanted to get half of his things organized in the hotel room before dinner. Then again, he was sharing a room with Sora. Why did he think that he would ever be able to focus on anything other than the brunet?

"I dare you," Sora said with a soft chuckle.

"Don't tempt me, crazyboy," the silveret retorted.

Sora smiled cheerfully and finally stopped laughing. He took in a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. His tongue swiped out and danced along his lips, wetting them slightly. The room was something royalty would have. Or a five-star hotel back in America. The material that lined the floor and furniture appeared to be silks of blues and tans and light purples. Everything about the room was marvelous and Sora found it quite hard to sit there and not look around.

"Hey, Riku?"

"Hm?" Riku paused and looked down at Sora.

"Thanks for bringing me here," he stated in a soft, pleased whisper. He offered his best friend a gleaming smile before allowing his eyes to slip shut. "You have no idea how thankful I am."

"It's no problem, I'm glad you came with me," Riku answered. He watched Sora drift into a small slumber. The silveret sighed and closed his eyes. The room was rather soporific. After a moment of sitting there with his eyes tightly shut, Riku added on to his prior statement.

"You have no idea how hard it is for me to be here with you, knowing you may die in a few months…knowing that I'm too much of a coward to do anything. Even when you're going to be in the same bed as me… But fate's just a cruel bastard like that."

xxxxxxxx

"Wake up, sleepyhead! Your mom is ready to go and she's about to leave us here if you don't get your butt up now!"

Riku's eyes fluttered open. Light danced freely into his eyes, causing the teen to flinch and shut them again. Slumbering during the afternoon always caused him to awake with stinging eyes. With a groan, Riku pushed his body up in to a sitting position. His clenched fists rose to his face and began viciously rubbing at his closed eyes. The time change that they encountered during the flight had completely messed with his sleeping habits. It was horrible. It felt like night but it wasn't. It was only five in the afternoon. The hell.

"Sora?"

Riku realized that it had been Sora that awoke him. The silveret yawned and inspected the youth standing a few inches away from him. The close proximity reminded Riku of the dream he had been having moments prior to his awakening. He had been slowly stripping Sora of every single piece of clothing, instead dressing him with kisses and touches and caresses. And good god, Sora had moaned so angelically that it was hard not to become aroused.

"You okay?" Sora questioned with a tilt of his head.

"Yeah. Just feel shitty from napping," the silveret mumbled and shrugged. That and I'm horribly turned on. Just be glad I don't have wood as well. That'd be quite embarrassing. "Now let me get off this bed and comb my hair before my mom flips out even more."

"Hah, okay," Sora answered and slipped off the bed. He bounded over to the door to the bedroom and lingered by it. "Hey, after dinner, wanna go see that fountain you were telling me about? Your mom said we can wander around the city whenever we want just as long as we don't get lost."

Riku paused. "I'd love to," he stated and shoved his body off the bed. His eyes landed on Sora briefly. "Thanks for asking."

"No problem!" Sora chimed and sent his best friend a warm look. "Now get ready! I'm starved!"

Riku chuckled and watched in utter amusement as the skinny brunet left the room, closing the door behind him. The silveret yawned and slipped a dexterous hand through his hair. His fingers caught on a few small knots that easily came undone with the force of his pale digits. The teen brushed his hair with his fingers for a few more moments before reaching for a real comb to finish the process. Tonight was going to be a long night, he decided. Not only had he woken up to Sora's beautiful face, but he had been dreaming about stripping Sora completely. He gulped. He needed to keep his hormones in check these few weeks.

"I'm basically screwed," he decided and set the comb down. Oh well.

xxxxxxxx

"So, what do you boys have planned for the next two weeks?"

Sora was busy consuming a rather large plate of spaghetti while Riku sat beside him, idly poking his chicken parma. He wasn't really in the mood for food, he realized. Things were just so messed up lately and nothing made any sense. His best friend might be dying and it was becoming increasingly harder to withhold his feelings. He vowed that he would tell the cheery brunet before they returned home, so now the silveret was left with a growing worry in the pit of his stomach. He wouldn't make the entire trip awkward, he decided, he'd tell Sora on the last night. That way, if Sora felt discomfited around him, it wouldn't hurt as badly.

"Boys?"

Riku peered up from his meal and noticed that his mother was staring at them worriedly. His gaze drifted between Sora and his mother. "What'd you ask?" the silveret questioned as he set his fork down.

"I asked," she began, fixing her napkin in her lap, "what you two have planned."

"Oh," Riku shoved in an impromptu chuckle, "nothing really. Whatever seems like a good idea?"

"The Forum Romanum sounds wonderful," Riku's mother cooed as she leaned her chin into her hands. "Your father and I went once in our early years together. It's so romantic and breath-taking. You boys must go there."

Riku blinked. Why did his mom suggest they go somewhere romantic? "Sondr-" he began but winced when his mother stared harshly at him. "Mom," he corrected quickly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I don't think we're all that interested in romantic places."

Sora decided to pipe in at that point. "I'd love to go!" he exclaimed after having swallowed a large mouthful of food.

"See. Sora wants to go. Why don't you be polite and take him one night?" Sondra suggested as she batted her eyelashes at her son. She laughed absentmindedly to herself and took a sip of her wine, as if she knew more than she was letting on to.

"If you don't want to, I don't have to," Sora began hesitantly, noticing the uncertainty flashing in his best friend's eyes. "I just—"

And Riku realized that he wasn't being fair. This might be Sora's only chance to ever see Rome, if he truly did have that bad of a case of cancer. The silveret winced and slumped back in his chair, pondering. He might as well make the forum the second to last stop on the last night…before the Trevi Fountain where he confessed to Sora. That sounded wonderful. "I'll take you," he huffed in the end.

"Really?! Thanks!" Sora exclaimed joyfully. Sondra laughed good-naturedly and continued eating. "Riku, are we still going to the Trevi Fountain tonight?" the brunet questioned after a moment of silence.

Well, there went his romantic plan. He had promised that they would go tonight. "Of course, Sora," the silveret answered simply. He'd think of another romantic place to confess. He was sure he could think of something just as good.

"Awesome," the brunet cooed and closed his eyes in relaxation. "God, I love this food."

"It is marvelous," Sondra agreed and smiled vibrantly at her son's best friend. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Sora. It's always a pleasure having you with us. Riku's always so much more polite and affectionate when you're around."

Riku, who was sipping a glass of water, nearly spewed the contents out onto the table and the pair. He set down the class, covered his mouth with his curled up hand, and coughed. Sondra arched a brow with a small smirk and Sora just sat there in worry, randomly interjecting customary questions. Are you okay? What's wrong? Are you choking?

"I'm…fine," Riku coughed at last. He swallowed down his own spit and shot his mother a stare. She knew.

"Riku, come with me and pick out a dessert for the three of us," his mother urged as she arose from the seat. "Let's surprise Sora." She smiled over at the brunet.

Riku nodded and arose, gently placing his napkin onto the table. He shot his best friend a weary smile before following his mother through the crowded restaurant. She wasn't leading him over to the desserts at all. In fact, she was leading him to the entry of the restaurant where it was a thousand times quieter. Once there, the red-dress clad woman spun around and surveyed her son. She said nothing for a long moment and just stared. And once she was done staring…

"Taranda and I know," she elucidated, brows furrowing.

"Know what?" What did Sora and his mothers know?

"About you and Sora," she stated slowly, hands coming to rest on her red hips. "Either you boys are dating or there's something else going on that you are not telling either of us."

Riku's cheeks turned a scorching red. He widened his eyes at his mother's bluntness. "Why would you say that? It's not like we kiss or anything!"

"So you don't deny that there's something," Sondra sighed and lifted her hand to her head. She rubbed her temples and took in a deep breath. "Riku, please tell me. I'm your mother. I want to know about your life. I've never once condemned you for your interests, only your mistakes. And if dating Sora is what you chose, I will not hold it as a mistake."

Riku bit his lip. "Mom…" He lowered his gaze, heart beating erratically as his hands clenched by his sides. "We're not dating."

"Then what?"

"I like him, mom, a lot," he informed quietly under his breath. "I have for years now. He's never showed any signs of requited love so I just haven't done anything. If that is what you and Ms. Kayaki are seeing, then you're correct. I do feel more than friendship for Sora."

"Do you know if he's.." she began, eyes filled with worry and fear.

"Into swinging the other way? No, mom, I don't know. If I was, I'm sure he would have told me. He tells me everything," the silveret explained and hunched his shoulders. "But it's fine. I'm content with just being his best friend. We talk. We hangout."

"But you want more," Sondra sighed and gestured for Riku to sit down in a chair with her. "Riku, you're nearly an adult now. You've only had one girlfriend and I'm positive you two didn't make it past second base. I know you need some sort of physical relation in your life."

"I can deal without being allowed to kiss him, if that's what you mean," Riku answered sharply. Liar. You can't go a day without wanting to kiss those perfect lips.

"Tell him," Sondra urged, messing with her pinned up hair.

"Can't. Don't want to ruin a friendship."

Sondra's hand dropped from her hair. "That was cliché. You and Sora are best friends. A crush isn't going to ruin anything. Sure, if he doesn't feel the same it may make things awkward, but it won't ruin things. Why, my best friend in high school had a crush on me, and she was a female. Of course I didn't return the feelings, but we stayed best friends."

"Did you have any more sleepovers? Was she allowed to hug you like Sora and I do?"

Sondra bit her lip. "Not as many, no…"

"Exactly, mom. I don't want to jeopardize what I have with Sora. I don't want him to know…" But yet I do. "But if you think it's for the best, I'll tell him by the end of this vacation. Just give me these two weeks to figure out something."

"Honey, I don't want you to be pressured into…" Sondra warned with a worried look.

"You're not pressuring me," Riku reassured and smiled warmly at his mother. "I just need to work a few things out before I got confessing my yearning for him."

Sondra sighed. "Tell me what day you're going to tell him."

"Why's that?" Did it matter?

"So I can buy you boys some condoms."

Riku's jaw dropped and hit the floor. Was his mother allowed to say such things? "Mom! We're!...and he! And even if he does, we don't do … that," he rambled, face a hot red.

"Once again, you're almost an adult. Sex isn't that taboo anymore."

"But!...we're both guys so I don't really see how a condom is going to do any good," he reasoned under his breath, cheeks the color of a ripe tomato.

"Is he a virgin?"

"Well…yes. I don't think he fooled around with Kairi any," Riku mused and scratched his head. "And even if he did, I doubt Kairi did anything with anyone and…"

"See? You're starting to see the web of STDs," Sondra chuckled and ruffled Riku's neat hair. "Riku, if you both share feelings, talk to him about these things. Condoms are nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, it won't seem as raw, but it'll be as passionate. Just open your mouth and communicate. I know you can use it for that."

Not if it's busy doing other things… He shifted uncomfortably. Now was not the best time to imagine going down on Sora. "Let's just get back to dinner before Sora thinks we ditched him."

Sondra nodded and stood up. She placed her hand on Riku's shoulder. She was about to say something else but decided at the last minute to keep it to herself. It was best if Riku found it out himself. After all, this was Riku's life and battle.

Regardless, mother and son returned to the table after a few moments. Sora, who had finally finished his meal, looked expectantly at them. He cocked his head to the side. "Where's the dessert?" he wondered innocently, cleaning the corners of his mouth.

"Well, we decided what we wanted," Sondra interjected calmly and smiled over at Riku.

More like, we've come to an understanding that I want Sora. Riku nodded in spite of to his mother's twofaced words. "Chocolate cheesecake," the silveret added in when Sora just stared at him in anticipation.

"Oh gosh I love that stuff!" the brunet cooed happily and shot the two a gracious smile. "You two are really too good to me."

"Well, what can we say? We love you," Sondra laughed and smiled warmly at Sora and then Riku. Ah yes, now that she had been confirmed that her suspicions were correct, she was not going to let Riku live this down. The male was going to confess to Sora, one way or another.

"Ah, thanks," Sora chuckled, the smile never leaving his lips. "I love you both, too!"

And Riku groaned under his breath, shifting uneasily. If only Sora would say those words with far more passion, in a far more seductive voice, as he lay beneath Riku, staring up at him with dazed eyes. If only Sora would love him the way that Princes loved their Princesses.

xxxxxxxx

"Your mom is so nice!"

Sora walked alongside Riku as they followed the map to the fountain. The brunet clutched the small traveler's map closely as he stayed just as closely by Riku. It was a beautiful night to be wandering the city, and for that, both males were thankful. The area they were venturing to, to visit the Trevi Fountain, was a spectacular area. It was in a busy part of Rome so they doubted that they would get too lost along the way. After all, with a map, it was pretty hard to remain lost for long.

"I know," Riku hummed and nonchalantly shoved his hands into his coat pockets. "Be jealous."

"Oh, I know I am," Sora laughed and childishly leaned against Riku as they walked. His side rested comfortably against his best friend's. "She seems like the type of Mom that you can tell anything and everything to," he mused as he walked on.

Riku was feeling a bit nervous from having Sora so close to him, side against his own side. "She is," he whispered, wincing somewhat. He didn't want his mother to know that he was gay, but he supposed that it would have come out eventually. All things did.

"I wish I had that relationship with my mom," Sora murmured. "I've kept so much from her…"

"Why?" Riku questioned.

"Because I'm afraid of seeing her hurt," he explained quietly and fidgeted uneasily. "When I told her freshman year that I didn't want to do softball anymore, you should have seen the disappointment clouding her eyes. She told me it was my choice and she supported me, but Riku, you didn't see the way she looked at me. And I just know if I were to tell her everything about me…she'd…"

"I doubt anything you've done would disappoint her, Sora," Riku assured and ruffled his friend's hair.

Sora shifted uncomfortably. "…I never told her how far Kairi and I went."

Riku winced visibly. "How far did you two go?"

Sora shrugged again. "Eh…"

"Sora?"

Sora bit his lip. "We didn't go all the way, Riku. Not like, total sex but we…touched and fondled and stuff…and with clothes on and erm…"

"So you guys basically had dry sex," Riku clarified, watching his best friend in surprise. "Go on."

Sora gulped as his pace slowed. "Must I?"

"You must," Riku urged with a soft smirk.

"She was over one day when my mom was work. Mom had no idea that she was there. We started making out and stuff…she got on my lap and we continued kissing. Then she took my hand and put it on her breast, you know? I was surprised, because we rarely did that stuff, but I continued kissing her. Somehow our hands ended up in each other's pants. Riku…the way she moaned and threw her head back and stuff…" He blushed. "It really, really turned me on."

Riku sighed. Negative a million points for the Sora gay fund. "Well duh, she was moaning."

Sora laughed uneasily. "Yeah…well, I pushed her down onto my bed. I won't go into the exact details, but after we stopped with the hands thing…we started grinding or something. I came first and then I helped her with my hand again and oh god, you're the only person I've ever told this to," he squeaked.

Riku sighed again. "Sora, you don't have to be ashamed. You're a guy. You're not a little boy."

"I know," the brunet murmured. "But I doubt my mom would have approved."

Riku nodded understandingly. "Anything else happen that you want to get off your chest?"

"She…gave me a blowjob?" Sora suggested. His cheeks were hot as an iron.

"Ah." Riku was growing more jealous by the moment. "And how did that feel?"

"Like it should have?" Sora stated vaguely and shook his head. "Okay, now that I've divulged my dirtiest secret to you, it's your turn. What's the farthest you've gone?"

Dream or real-life, Sora? "I haven't been beyond kissing and outside clothes groping."

Sora paled. He felt dirty. And extremely raunchy. "Get out…"

"I'm dead serious, Sora." I didn't do anything because I only want you. I'm only turned on by you. Is that a crime? I don't think it is. "Anyway, what happened between you and Kairi? If you guys got that far, why didn't you go all the way? Why'd you break up."

Sora licked his lips as they continued walking. "That stuff happened a lot," he admitted with an embarrassed chuckle. "She wanted more, I said I couldn't. I didn't want to her pregnant and ruin our lives. She took offense. We didn't do anything else for a long time. Then she broke up with me when I became distant."

Riku frowned. "Wise boy," he commented after a moment, "saying no to sex. I'm proud of you."

Sora exhaled deeply. "Well, to the Fountain?"

"Of course…"

And now that he knew that his best friend had practically gone all the way with a girl, he wasn't feeling as confident as he had before. If Sora had willingly done all that with Kairi, there was no chance in hell that he was gay or bisexual. Things just never worked out that way in real-life. And Riku just had to come to grasps with that. Maybe telling Sora would be a bad idea. Maybe going to the clinic with Sora was a bad idea. Maybe he should have waited to find out when Sora told everyone else that he was dying. Maybe Riku shouldn't have broughten Sora with him to Rome.

And maybe, just maybe, Riku should have never fallen in love with Sora.