Can You Help Me?
Description: Sora has always been a kind person; Giving help to anyone that needed it. Riku has had a troubled life, and in turn, shuts anyone out that tries to help him. Can Sora be the one to help Riku not be so cold and distant? [RikuxSora] [AkuRoku]on the side.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will...*sigh* Anyways! This, my lovely readers, is MY story. The plot and what not was MY idea. Take anything from it, and you will regret it.
Rating/Warning: Mature - Language
A/N: Whoa, look-y here! It's chapter three :] Sorry it took me loner than normal. I've just been busy with giving piano lessons and sports. WELL, I must say, this story is going along very smoothly. Alright, a few more people will be introduced in this chapter and what not. It's gonna start in Riku's POV in the beginning, and will change to other POV's. You'll know who...So scroll,read, and enjoy!
Also, thanks for everyone that the reviewed and put this story on their favorites/alerts :D
.::Chapter Three::.
***
He stuck out his hand "I'm Sora" He said grinning. "I'm guessing your the poor guy that was stuck working on my piece of junk, right?"
I looked at his hand for a second, before hesitantly reaching mine out to grab his and shake it. "Yeah, I was." I let go of his hand, warmth suddenly leaving mine.
"I didn't quite catch your name." He said, looking into my eyes.
I paused a second. "Riku."
"Riku, nice to meet you." A smile was on his face again. Was this kid always this happy?
"Yeah," I mumbled "nice to meet you to."
***
Sora stood up on his toes and peered over my shoulder, trying to see the car. It was then I noticed how short he really was. I was almost an entire head taller than him. "So how's the car coming along?" He asked, not talking his eyes off it.
I bent down to get a rag that was near my foot, and stood back up. "I actually just finished it." I said, wiping my hand clean with the dirty old gray rag. I really should wash this rag...It wasn't, sanitary anymore.
He blinked his blue eyes a few times. "Awesome." That smile was on his face again...seemed like it was always there. "I hope it wasn't too much of a pain to fix it." He added as an afterthought.
I lightly shook my head, strands of silver hair tickling my face. "Not really." I muttered, focusing on cleaning my hands of all the oil that was on it. I knew I was lying. I think I've grown to hate that car more than anything in the world.
Cloud rolled his eyes. "Oh stop being so nice Riku. You were just bitching about how much of a pain it was before he walked in. " Cloud said looking at me smugly, motioning his hand to Sora. I glared at him, and threw the rag at him. He caught it with no problem though. Damn him and his fast hand eye coordination skills. "Jeez Rik-ku" He said, breaking my name into syllables. How I hated when people did that. "No need to get so violent" He continued, showing the rag in his hands.
I huffed a bit. "Well maybe I wouldn't need to be so violent if you weren't so obnoxious." I said, looking away from him, scowl clearly shown on my face.
Cloud and I heard Sora laugh lightly, then I just realized how childish we were acting. "Well Sorry for it being such a pain. It's just...a little old." Sora said, still laughing.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Hey, it's my job. So I just learn to deal with it." I said, moving towards the car, bending down to put all the tools back in the black case. I saw Sora take a few steps closer.
"Well thanks anyways." Sora said, looking at me.
A short and quiet 'Hm' was all I said in response. A few seconds of that awkward silence passed, till another 'ding' from the bell was heard from the front desk.
Cloud sighed, out of annoyance, running his fingers through his hair. "My god..." He started "how am I suppose to slack off at work when people are coming in willy-nilly for assistance." He grumbled out loud, walking away from Sora and I to the front room.
Sora laughed again, louder this time. "Is he always like that?" He asked, looking at Cloud walk away.
I let out a small laugh, smirking the slightest. "Yeah he is. He can be annoying at times." I put the last tool in the box, and closed it. "But you learn love him."
Sora looked back at me, putting his hands in his pocket. "True. He seems like a very.." He thought over his words. "interesting person." He said.
There it was again. That annoying awkward silence that everyone tries to avoid,yet somehow manages to creep up in conversations.
"Hey um.." Sora started breaking that horrible silence. "I think...I think I've seen you this morning." He was shifting from foot to foot in his spot, looking intently at the floor like it was something amazing.
I rose an eyebrow questioningly. "You did?" I asked, even though I perfectly knew what he was talking about. I took another tool off the floor and placed it in the box.
"Yeah" His gaze met my eyes. "I yelled something along the lines of; 'Hey are you my new neighbor?'"
"Ah, so that was you. I thought you looked familiar." I said, looking up at him.
"Oh, well good. I mean..not good, er you know what I mean? Well..no, you probably don't. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I'm not some creepy stalker who tried to talk to you and now found you again at your work. Just a friendly person that wanted to make some new-
"Sora." I said, cutting him off. He stopped sharply, with his bright blue eyes wide. "Your rambling."
A small blush made it onto his tan face. He grinned,closing his eyes, then bringing his hand to the back of his head. "I didn't even notice. Sorry." He said, the blush still on his face.
"No need to apologize." I said, standing up. "Well I really need to get back to work, or else my boss will kill me." I picked up my tool box. "You need to talk to that guy over in that room over there to get your car back." I said, pointing to a small room a few feet behind Sora. He turned around to look at the room then back at me.
"Thank." He said, smiling again. I was right; This kid really was always happy.
"No problem." I said, turning around, walking away from him.
"So I'll see you around?" He shouted, waving goodbye.
I raised my hand, waving back lightly. "Yeah, see ya." I head the sound of his footsteps walking out of the shop to the office.
I made my way towards the shelf to put the tool box back. My eyes scanned for an open space; And I finally found one. Way up on the top shelf a few feet above my head. I sighed. how I loved my luck. I placed the tool box carefully onto the floor, and grabbed a chair next the shelf. I placed the chair right up to the big gray metal shelf. I stepped on it, making sure I don't fall like I did this morning. Falling of this chair onto the concrete floor wasn't something I wanted to do.
I stood on my toes, pushing the box into the one open space left. I couldn't push it in all the way, so I tried tapping it lightly. That didn't do a thing. I sighed out of frustration, then looked back up to the box. I took a second or two to get ready, then jumped, hitting the box way back into the shelf.
Yes! Finally I got it in. I was very proud of my self that I actually didn't fall off the chair like I usually do. Well I don't usually fall off chairs, but just..in general. I took a step back, and felt nothing but air. Damn. At least I didn't fall when I was jumping. I tried to balance my self by waving my arms around, but that didn't help. I saw my self falling back, not being able to do anything about it. I closed my eyes, bracing my self for the impact.
It never came. But I did feel something on my back. Hands?
I opened my eyes and turned around to see Cloud, his hands against my back preventing me from falling. Man I was happy that he came in time.
"You okay?" He asked, blue eyes making contact with mine.
I nodded my head, letting more hair fall into my face. "Yeah.." I mumbled, straightening myself up, and slowly getting off the chair.
"Oh Riku, what would you do with out me?" He asked, smirking like there was no tomorrow.
I furrowed my eyebrows, and glared over at him. "Oh stop it. You of all people should know stuff like that happens to me all the time." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
He laughed. "Well yeah. Everyone knows about your problem with...gravity and balancing" He said, laughing more.
I rolled my eyes. He was right though. Everyday it's something new that happens to me. Even though I'm so careful!
"Thanks.." I muttered. He somehow heard me though all his laughter.
"Oh your welcome." He said, smiling. "That just added to my day. First it was that Sora kid, now you almost falling? Priceless." He said.
I rose and eyebrow. "What happened with Sora?" I asked, a little curious.
"Oh,well.." He started, scratching his head with his hand."I told him that his car broke in half. Man he freaked; You should of seen his face Riku. He looked like he was going to die, I kid you not." He said, trying not to laugh; He failed at that, and started laughing again.
"Cloud, you can be such an ass sometimes." I said.
"Oh lighten up Riku. I just need some excitement in this boring lifeless place." He said. "Only four more hours of working here and we're free for the weekend." He continued.
Finally. This week has gone by so slow. It felt just like that last week of school that every kid dreads but loves at the same time. Dreading it because it'll be the slowest week of their lives, but loving it because it's their last.
"Speaking of getting off in a few hours. You wanna do something?" He asked, bringing a hand to his face, examining it.
I was hesitant at first, but then realized something; I had nothing planned for today. As a matter of fact,I had nothing planned for this weekend. Wow. Sad isn't it?
"Riku?"
His voice broke me back from my daze. "Huh?" I asked, sounding oh so smart with that question.
"I said, do you wanna do something today?" He asked again, looking at me this time. "You can bring Axel. I haven't seen him in ages!"
I felt the corner of my lip twitch. Oh god. Those two in the same room. Bad bad idea. When those two get together, its like something just clicks between them and they get even more loud and obnoxious. I was so tempted to say no, but then I really won't have anything to do. Curse my lack of a life...
"Yeah, sure. I'll ask Axel if he's free after I get off." I said, thinking if he would still be there by the time I'd get off.
"Sweet." He said smiling. A 'ding' was heard from the front desk once again. "Well, duty calls. So I'll see you after work." He said, turning and walking away. Another 'ding' was heard. "I'm coming! Jeez..." He shouted to..well, whoever was at the front desk.
Only four more hours and I'll be free...
Ugh..
*^*
Sora's P.O.V.
I drove up into my driveway, careful not to hit Roxas' car. He'd kill me if anything happened to his 'baby' as he calls it. My hand went to put my car in park, and then turn the key towards me, shutting off the car. A click was heard when I unfastened my seat belt and stepped out of the car, closing the door with a loud 'thud.' The sound of my shoes could be heard hitting the ground as I walked over the front door. I reached my hand into my pocket, fumbling for the keys. Taking them out, I opened the door and stepped inside.
'Ah, warmth..' I thought to myself, as I let myself soak in the nice warm air. For only being the beginning of November, it's pretty damn cold outside. I kicked off my shoes, and took off my jacket placing it on the coat rack. Instead of staying on said coat rack, it fell onto the floor. I blinked, then remembered that I never put it up yet. Oh well; I walked away leaving my jacket on the floor.
"Roxas! I'm home!" I shouted through out the house, trying to see where he was.
A few seconds of silence passed before I heard him respond. "I'm in the living room!" He shouted, his voice echoing through out the house.
I walked over to the living room., then stopped. There he was, sitting in the middle of the floor, back facing me, surrounded my so..many...boxes. I looked around, trying to find a way to get to him with out, tripping and falling to my doom. I stepped over a box, then another, walked a few steps, and plopped my self on the couch to the left of Roxas.
He was fumbling through one box in front of him, taking things out, and occasionally throwing things behind him, muttering stuff like; 'Useless' or 'Why did we even pack this.'
"So Roxas...whatchya doing?" I asked him,trying to strike up a conversation.
He looked up at me from his spot on the floor, then rolled his eyes. "I'm baking bread..." He said sarcasm dripping from every word. "What does it look I'm doing?"
I snorted a laugh. "Jeez Roxas, no need to get snippy." I raised my hands in a defensive manner. "Oh, by the way.." I reached into my pocket, fishing out his phone. "Here, thanks for letting me use it." I said, tossing the phone over to him. Unfortunately, with his lack of reflexes it ended up hitting him in the head,and falling in his lap.
A loud 'Gah!' was heard followed by; "What the fuck Sora!" He yelled, grabbing his head with a pained expression on his face.
I bit back a snicker, when I looked at him. "It's not my fault you have the reflexes of a dead cat." I muttered quietly. I got a glare in response to my little comment, making me laugh. "I'm sorry Roxy, I'll get some ice for you." I said, getting up and walking over to the kitchen.
"I said not to call me that!" I heard him shout from the living room floor.
"Whatever you say Roxy." I said, laughing when I heard him groan out of annoyance. I made my way over into the kitchen, and walked to the freezer, grabbing the handle and opening it. "Ice...ice...where are you- Hmm..." I said to myself, eyes scanning the freezer. "Here you are." I picked up a blue tray, filled with ice cubes, and closed the freezer. "Hey Roxas!" I shouted, getting his attention.
"What?" He replied.
"Do we have any bags? Like, plastic ones and such?" I asked, walking over to the counter, getting the ice out of the tray.
I saw him poke his head out from behind the couch. "Why?" He asked, still holding onto his head.
"Well your not going to hold the ice to your head without a bag, now are you?" I said, turning my head to look at him.
"Oh.." He said, pausing before continuing. "I think there might be some plastic bags underneath the sink." He said, sitting back down onto the floor, out of my sight.
I bent down and opened the cabinet underneath the sink. Sure enough there were a few bags there. I reach out and grabbed one, then straightened up, closing the cabinet with my knee. I put a few ice cubes into the bag, then tied it and walked back over to the living room.
"Here you go." I said, swinging the back towards him.
His eyes went wide, and one arm was swinging in front of his head. "Don't throw it!" He said, more like yelled.
I laughed, then sat down onto the couch again,leaning over handing the ice-filled bag to him. "Chill Roxas." I said, smiling.
He snatched the bag away from my hands, and then put it up to his head, letting out a sigh. "If I have a phone shaped bruise, dent, or whatever on my forehead. I'm gonna hurt you."
I laughed again, leaning back against the couch, sinking into it. "I know you'll never hurt me. I'm your brother!" I said, smiling.
He mumbled something under his breath that I didn't hear, but I decided to let it go. My eyes wondered around the room. It was nice, to say the least. A few windows here and there, spacious, and a light tan color? Huh..I never noticed this room was actually painted, unlike the rest of the house. Odd.
"So did you get your car back in one piece?" Roxas asked, breaking me out of my daze.
I looked down at him on the floor. "What?" I asked, bilking my blue eyes.
He looked up at me, the bag covering most of his face. "Your car.." He stated.
Pausing for a second, I answered. "Oh, yeah. I got it back no problem. Works just like new." I said, smiling on how much better shape my car was in. Well, not appearance wise, but you know what I mean. I'm really surprised actually. I thought I'd have to get rid of it; Thanks to- Riku? Yeah that's his name- thanks to him, I might get a few more good years out of it.
He moved to face me. "Hmm, must of taken the guy who worked on it days to fix it." He said, taking the bag off his face, and bringing his hand up to it to see if there was a bump.
I laughed sheepishly. "Speaking of that guy. You know the person I said hi to this morning?" I asked Roxas.
"Oh man, He worked on your car?" He said, looking remotely interested for the first time--well, today.
I nodded my head, smiling at him. "Yupp, it was the same guy. Freaky right?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
Roxas laughed. "He probably thinks you some kind of creep now. Seeing you pop up everywhere." He said
I felt my face get hot, straighten up from my spot on the couch. "No! Don't say that!" I said, pouting a bit. I'm not a creep..."And it was only two places! not everywhere." I added as an afterthought.
He stood up and brushed the wrinkles out of his jeans. "Fine. I'll let you think whatever you want." He said, taunting me about my 'creepy-ness'. He then walked away from me and into the kitchen, throwing the ice into the sink,and the bag into the garbage.
I huffed, leaning back against the couch,crossing my arms over my chest. "It was only two places.." I repeated to myself.
"Oh, by the way Sora" I heard Roxas shout from the kitchen,followed by the clashing of silverware. "I found your phone when I was unpacking."
I turned around on the couch to see him. "Really?" I beamed. "Where is it?" I asked, moving my head around the room to see if it's there; it wasn't.
"It's in here,next to the microwave." He said, grabbing a bunch of forks and putting them away into the drawer. "And I think Leon called you."
I got up off the couch, and made my way over to the microwave. There, lay my black phone; I picked it up and it said I had a missed call, from Leon. Hmm, Roxas was right. I wonder what he wanted?
I flipped open the phone and dialed his number,bringing the phone up to my ear. I shifted in my spot, waiting for him to pick up.
Ring.
"Who you calling?" Roxas asked, looking over at me.
Ring.
"Leon..." I said, looking at the wall in front of me.
Ring--click--rustle.
"Hello?"
"Hey Leon." I chirped into the phone. "I'm guessing you called earlier?"
"Oh, hey Sora. Yeah, I did." He said, sounding a bit surprised.
"Sorry I didn't answer, I didn't have-" Crash. I looked over to see that Roxas had dropped a few spoons into the sink. "Roxas, can you be any louder?" I asked him, trying to cover the phone with my hand.
He looked at me, blinking a few time, then picked up a handful of spoons and dropped them into the sink,some even on the floor, making many another crashing sounds. "Yes." He said, smirking.
I rolled my eyes at him. "You can be so obnoxious some times.." I grumbled, looking away from him.
He snorted out a laugh, and placed a hand in his hip. "And your not?" He asked me.
"No while your on the phone!" I said, looking back at him with narrowed eyes.
"Sora?"
"Oh." His voice brought me back to my conversation with him. "Sorry about that.." I said into the phone, taking a few steps away from Roxas. "Roxas was distracting me.."
I heard him chuckle lightly. "No problem. So how are things, with moving in and all."
My eyebrows furrowed together. Is that all he wanted to know? Just how things are? He never does that... "Oh it's great. The house is nice and, um...spacious. The neighborhood is...pretty mellow from what I've seen."
"That's good." He cleared his throat, then stopped for a few seconds before talking again. "Listen, if you and Roxas aren't doing anything tomorrow. I could show you around town, just so you guys get a feel for it."
Okay, now that was too weird. Leon called, to ask how things were going. Then offers to show us around...I think the world is coming to it's end...
"Well?" He asked, curious to my answer.
I blinked my eyes. "Y-yeah. Sure, no problem. What time?" I asked, fumbling with the belt loop on my jeans.
"Sometime around noon."
I let my hand drop my my side. "Sweet. Sound good to me. I'll go tell Roxas." I said, slowly walking towards him.
"Alright, see you then."
By then I made it to Roxas, standing next to him. "Mhm, bye." I said, taking the phone away from my ear and shutting it. I started at the phone in my hand, comprehending what happened.
Roxas must of notice the weird stares I was giving to my phone. "What?" He asked, fumbling with the last few spoons.
I started at the phone a little longer. "Leon called to...see how things were."
The sound of spoons banging against each other stopped. "What..." He asked again, giving me a weird look.
"And he said he wanted to show us around town tomorrow around noon."
"....Did he willingly offer? Or did someone put him up to it?" Roxas asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't know, still...it's weird." I said, laughing a bit. "Plus who could force him to do anything?"
"Hmm." Roxas said. "Mom could."
"Ah yes..she is very, persuasive." I said, scrunching up my face. By persuasive I mean annoying you till you break down and give in. Just imagining my mom pestering Leon into showing us around town seemed funny; A short women pointing her finger and yelling at a freakishly tall intimidating guy. "Anyways, so I guess we have plans for tomorrow."
"I guess so." Roxas said, folding up the box that held the silverware, and throwing it away.
I sighed. "Well, I'm going to take a shower,considering I haven't since we've gotten here." I said. "Did we unpack the towels yet?"
"If by we you mean me, yes; We did." He said.
I laughed a little, blushing a bit to. "Sorry, I'll start helping you unpack." I said. "So where are they?" I asked him, starting to walk away, up the stairs.
"There in the little closet thing next to the bathroom." He shouted, loud enough for me to hear.
"Thanks Roxy!" I yelled from the top of the stair case.
I heard him growl. "How many time do I need to tell you, NOT, to call me that?!"He shouted.
I laughed to myself, before grabbing a towel and entering the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
*^*
Riku's P.O.V.
Those were the slowest four hours of my life. Today was just a really slow day; for me anyways. I only had to work on one car besides Sora's. The other car took most of the four hours, but it was just so....boring. Oh well, I'm done and free for the weekend. Finally. All I need to do now, is find Axel, and get ready for..whatever Cloud had planned for tonight.
Come to think of it...he never did tell me what he had planned; Or even if he had the slightest idea where we're going.
I let that thought ponder in my mind when I walked over into the locker room. No one was there, since they all left earlier. I walked over to my locker in the back corner. Stopping in front of it, my fingers grasped the lock, and moved to put the code in. A soft click was heard when I pulled on the lock ,opening it. Another click was heard echo through the silent locker room was heard when I opened my locker.
I took my shirt and the jeans I borrowed from Axel, out of the locker, and placed them onto the bench behind me. I quickly unbuttoned my boring uniform shirt and took it off, shivering a little feeling cold. Can't Kari turn up the heat in this place? It's always so cold...
Turning around, I grabbed my shirt and slipped into it. I yawned, feeling absolutely exhausted , then grabbed the jeans and put them on. I took the hair tie out, letting my silver hair flow all over my face. Grabbing my jacket out of the locker, I closed it then turned to walk out of the room.
My foot steps could be heard echoing throughout the shop, since no one else was there. Wait a second - Where's Cloud? I looked around the shop, trying to find a glimpse of blond spiky hair; But I didn't. Why isn't he here! He was suppose to tell me what we're going to do after work.
I mentally groaned to myself and just kept on walking; Giving up on trying to find Cloud. Then something caught my eye. It was my car, I almost forgot that it's all fixed and what not. I smiled knowing that now I don't have to walk--
Wait...Oh god.
Shit...
I didn't bring the keys with me. I slapped my head with my hand, angry at -well- myself. "Way to go Riku." I muttered quietly to myself. "Smooth fucking move..." I then walked away from my car, leaving it in the shop for one more day.
Note to self. Bring the keys to work next time. I made my way over to the front door, pushing it open and hearing the bell 'ding' above it.
Ugh. I was snowing; Badly. The streets were lightly covered in a thin sheet of white snow, and there was more falling from the sky. Come on, why does the weather have to be so gross when I need to walk home? I sighed, zipping up my jacket as far as it would go, and put my hands into my pocket, walking away from the shop.
I made it at least a good few feet away from the shop, before a loud 'beep' was heard. I froze in mid-step and turned around to see what it was.
Huh..It was Cloud, sitting in his car. He motioned his hand for me to come over through his car window. I did, turning around and walking over to his blue car. His window came came down so he could talk to me.
"I thought you left?" I asked him, seeing my breath in front of me.
He shook his head. "Nah, I knew you were too stupid to bring your car keys," He started "so I decided to wait for you and give you a ride."
I glared at him for his 'stupid' comment, but then let out a sigh of relief. Thank god I didn't have to walk to where Axel worked. His work was a good three miles away from mine, and walking there, in the snow, was not something I wanted to do.
"Thanks." I said, walking over to the passenger side of his car. My hand went to the handle on the door as I opened it, sitting down in the leather seat. I closed the door, not feeling the cold air anymore. "So why didn't you wait in the shop?" I asked, moving my hands to put them in front of the warm air that was blowing out of the heater.
He moved in his seat so he could face me. "It's freezing in there. So I came here to sit in my warm and toasty car." He said smiling. "Sorry if you were looking for me in there." He said, motioning his hand towards the shop.
"It's fine." I replied, getting comfortable in my seat.
"So anyways, where are we off to?" He asked me.
"To Axel's work." I said, still having my hands up to the warm air. He put the car in drive, and made his way out of the parking lot. Then the car came to a sharp halt.
"Where is..his work?" He asked, looking out in front of him to see if there were any cars.
My gaze went to the passing cars outside my window. "Take a left, and then just go straight for about three miles." I said, not taking my eyes off the passing cars.
"Oh yeah, now I remember." He said, turning the car into the was a few moments of silence. Nothing was heard besides the soft music in the background, and the sound of the car moving. I kept looking outside my windows, seeing building as we drove past them. Then I remembered; I still don't know what we're all so doing tonight.
"Hey Cloud?" I asked, breaking the silence between us. A quiet 'Hm' was heard from him as a response. "What are we doing tonight?"
He smiled the laughed a little. "Honestly, I have no idea. I just thought we'd go with the flow." He said, looking at the road in front of him.
I rose an eyebrow questionably. "What flow.." I asked, looking over at him.
"Exactly!" He said, not making any sense at all. I just sat there, not really knowing what to say back to him. But then he continued after a long pause. "I just thought we'd all get decide on what to do when we're all together."
"Sounds good..." I said, looking back out the window.
*^*
Axel's P.O.V.
I stared at the clock; 4:57. Three more minutes till I can take my break. Three more, very slow minutes to kill. A strand or red hair fell in front of my eyes; I blew it away, but it just came back. Eh. I don't know why I can't just go home now, I mean really. It's almost two o'clock. The morning rush was over, thank god. It's the worst part of the day....Now there's barely anyone in here besides the few people with their laptops working on their stories. Pfft, they probably think they're so cool, 'Oh look at me, I'm writing in public.'
I laugh a little at my thought. Then I heard Selphie's voice next to me as she was talking to some customer. Shit; if she sees me she's probably going to nag at me for not working... I looked around for- anything- to use to make it look like I'm working. 'Come on...Bingo!' I thought when I saw a tiny maroon rag. My hand darted out to grab it, and then I started to 'clean' the spot on the counter in front of me.
My eyes went to the clock again; 4:58. UGH! Why does time go by so slow?! I unconsciously began 'cleaning' the spot harder with the rag.
"I think it's clean enough Axel."
I turned around to see Selphie standing behind me, her green eyes looking at the rag in my hands.
"Oh, well I'm just making sure it's spotless!" I said, lying straight through my teeth.
She laughed a little, bringing her hand to move her brown hair behind her ear. "You and me both know, that your just wasting time till your break starts."
I let out a fake gasp of shock. "How could you say something like that? I'd never waste time at work!" I said, trying to look shocked.
She let out a giggle, and started walking away. "Whatever you say Axel." She said, then went into the back where the employees could only go.
I turned back around to look at the clock; 5:01. YES! Time for my break, finally. Took the clock long enough. I walked from behind the counter,then stopped, looking for Demyx. My eyes drifted around the little cafe. 'Old lady...random guy...another guy with his lap top....guy reading a book...Aha! There's Demyx!" I thought to myself, then started walking towards him. Demyx was my best friend, besides Riku of course. I met him about six years ago when Riku and I moved here. He's a very interesting person, lets just keep it at that. He's only a few years youger than me, but hey, I still act like a five year old.
I was about half way to him when Selphie walked back outside. I turned to face her. "Hey Selphie!" I shouted across the cafe, bringing her attention to me, along with other people I didn't know. "I'm taking my break now!" I said, walking over to the corner table where Demyx was sitting.
"Fine, just don't take forever like last time Axel!" She yelled back, warning me, then went back to cleaning up the counter.
I made my way over to the small table, grabbing a chair and sitting down in it. "God..." Relaxing a bit, I cracked my neck to relieve some tension. "I hate working.." I complained to Demyx.
He just laughed in response. "Don't we all?" He mused, closing his taking a sip from his coffee. One good thing about working here; Free coffee. Thanks to my amazing manager, Selphie, we can get as much free coffee as we please. Awesome, I know. It's especially good for me since I practically live off caffeine.
I leaned down so my chin would rest against the table. "But come on. I just want to go and start the weekend!" I wined, looking up at Demyx.
His blue eyes made contact with my bright green ones. "Just hang in there for another thirty minutes." He said, blinking, not looking at anything else but me.
I scrunched my face in annoyance, knowing I have thirty minutes left to kill. I sighed, my hand reaching up to bury itself in my uncontrollable red hair. "So what's new with you?" I asked him.
He put down his coffee, placed his elbow on the table, and rested his face on his hand. "Did I tell you what I got in the mail this morning?" He asked me.
One of my eyebrows rose. "No..." I stated. "At least I don't think so." He probably did tell me, I just either forgot or tuned him out. I know; I'm amazing. My hand reached over to his cup of coffee, stealing it away from him, then taking a rather big sip.
He ran his other hand through his sandy blond hair, then putting it on the table. "So you know how I finally moved out of my apartment a few days ago, right?" He asked, playing with a red straw in his hand.
"Yeah..." I responded, lifting my head off the table, blinking a few times.
"And you know how I took, forever, clean the apartment so I could get my deposit back?" He asked again, "and I even felt like being nice by leaving a brand new roll of toilet paper on the toilet for the people that were moving in.." He continued.
I nodded my head. He really did take days to clean his apartment. Poor guy...even dragged me along with him a few times to help him. Worst days of my life, let me tell you. I sat there, waiting for him to finish. "Well, I got a fine this morning. It was for leaving personal items behind...personal items meaning the damn toilet paper."
....
I bit my lip, holding back a snicker. Don't laugh. Come on, don't laugh. I thought to myself, trying oh so hard not to brake out into a fit of laughter.
"Fifty bucks...I got fined..fifty fucking bucks..for leaving toilet paper. What the fuck man!" He said, clearly upset at his...misfortune.
Silence.
He looked back at me, furrowing his eyebrows. "Axel?" He waved a hand in front of my face, trying to get my attention. "Hello? Why aren't you-"
I couldn't hold it back anymore, I started laughing - hard. Really, who wouldn't laugh at something like that?
His eyes narrowed at me. "It isn't funny you ass.." He said, still glaring at me.
I grabbed my sides because they were hurting. "Of course it's funny!" I said, wiping away a tear from my eye. "You'd laugh too if it happened to anyone else."
He crossed his arms over his chest, making his white buttoned up shirt and black apron crinkle up a bit, then smiled. "Yeah..your right. I'm just, bummed that it happened to me." He said, leaning backwards so his back rested on the chair.
I let out one final soft laugh. "I'm sorry man, I guess that's what you get for being nice." I said, jokingly. He still looked semi-upset.
"Okay let me cheer you up with one of my fucked up moments in life." I said, leaning in towards him. "Let's see...there was that one time at that store. Eh, no not good enough.." I said, thinking harder; A few seconds passed and I snapped my finger. "Got it! I said, more like shouted, once again receiving stares from strangers.
He rose an eyebrow slowly. "Well, go on." He said, stealing his coffee back from me.
"Alright," I started "So a few months back, I went to this party. Of course I got completely drunk out of my mind...Yet I still managed to meet this really hot girl." I stopped, then thought about her for a second. " I wonder what happened to her after that party..." I said, drifting away from the point of my story.
Demyx cleared his throat, and looked at me, waiting to finish. "Oh, right anyways. So we both decided to go to the park. Don't ask why, we just did. " I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Well, at the park, we somehow managed to fool around on the bench-"
He snorted a laugh. "Oh how romantic." He said sarcastically, cutting me off.
"Anyways, after out little, bonding time, we found out that, our clothes were gone." I laughed a little, remembering that interesting night. "Turned out some little rotten kids stole out clothes. So we had to walk around town, trying to get back to the party; Naked." I said, finishing my story.
The sound of his laughter rang through my ears. "I'm guessing that made you feel better?" I asked him.
He nodded his head, a smile shown brightly across his face. "Yeah, it did." He laughed a little again. "I just can't stop picturing it." He said grinning at me.
I smirked at him. "Glad to know your picturing me naked..." I said, playing with the name tag on my very stained black apron.
He threw a few napkins hitting me in the face. "Don't flatter yourself."
I grinned at him, showing off my pearly white teeth. "I don't need to- oh!" I said, feeling a little buzz in my pocket. I reached my hand in my pocket, pulling out a thin red phone. I held it a little closer to my face, since I didn't have amazing vision. 'One new text message'.
"Dude, why don't you get some glasses or something?" He asked me.
"Pfft, glasses would make me look like a nerd." I said, opening my phone to read what it said.
He rolled his eyes, then tilted his head to the side. "And bringing everything a milliliter from your face and squinting your eyes is so much better." He said, sarcastically.
I stuck my tongue out at him, before looking back at my phone, pressing the view now button. "Huh.." I said out loud. 'You still at work?' Was what the text said, and it was from Riku.
"What is it?" Demyx asked me, leaning over the table to see the phone.
I blinked a few times, before pressing the reply button. "Nothing, just a text from Riku." I mumbled, focusing on texting.
I heard Demyx laugh. "He texts?"
"Well yeah; Don't let that silver hair of his fool you. He's not some old man who's never heard of technology." I pressed the send button, then closed the phone, placing it on the table.
He smiled, taking a sip from his coffee cup. "What did he say?"
"He just wanted to know if I'm still at work." I said, looking at the falling snow outside the window next to me.
"Speaking of Riku.." He said.
I tilt me head to the side, staring at him confused. "Huh?" I asked, but then felt a tap on my shoulder. I whirled my head around to see Riku standing behind me. "Riku!" I said, moving my whole body in the chair to face him. "To what do I owe for you gracing me with your presence on this lovely afternoon?" I asked, curious. Hmm..he probably came to get some free coffee. Pfft, mooch.
"Cloud wanted us to do something tonight, so I came here to ask if you were free." Riku said, grabbing a near by chair,sitting between Demyx and I. He gave a small wave to Demyx, acknowledging him. Deymx gave him a smile and wave in return.
I tilt my head to the side, looking at Riku. "You came all this way just to ask me that?" I said,giving him a look.
He turned to face me. "That, and Cloud wanted to see you." He said quickly.
"Wait- Cloud is here?!" I shouted excitingly, making Riku wince at the loudness of my voice.
"Yeah. He was parking his car or something. He'll be here soon."He said, looking out the window at his car.
"Awesome." I said smiling. I haven't seen Cloud in ages, with work and all. God I miss him; He's another one of my close friends,thanks to Riku. I met Cloud a few years back when I went to pick Riku up from work since his car wasn't working that day. Cloud and I instantly hit it off, with our lame jokes and similar personalities.
As if right on cue, Cloud walked in, looking around for Riku and I. "Hey! You with the gravity defying bright blond hair!" I shouted across the room, grabbing his attention. "Over here!" I saw him smile, then walk over to us, passing many people that were giving me and him weird looks for my outburst.
He stopped in front of me. "Hey Axel, long time no see?" He said, smiling down at me.
"Of course; It's been what? Weeks? Months? Years?!" I asked jokingly, knowing it's only been about two weeks since I last saw him.
He chuckled, putting his hands into his coat pocket. "Too long man." He said, looking around for a chair. He grabbed one behind him, then sat down right next to Demyx and I, across from Riku.
"I don't think you two have met yet." I said, looking back and forth between Cloud and Demyx.
"I don't think we have." Demyx said, piping into the conversation.
"Well," I started. "Cloud, this is Demyx." I said, pointing over to my sandy blond haired friend. "Demyx, this is Cloud."
"Nice to meet you." Cloud said, offering his hand.
Demyx grabbed it, shaking it. "Like wise." He said while smiling.
"Alright." Cloud said, clapping his hands together. "Time to get down to business."
Riku rose a silver brow."Business?" He asked, looking a little confused.
Blue eyes made contact with aqua."Our plans for tonight. Oh!" Cloud said, then looking to me. "Are you free tonight?" He asked me.
I nodded my head, my red hair shaking as I did. "Yeah, I actually get off in fifteen minutes so-"
"Axel! Demyx!"
Selphie's voice grabbed our attention as we both looked over to her across the room. She was standing in front of the counter, hand on her hip, lightly tapping her foot. "Your break ended ten minutes ago." She said, looking at us both. "Now both of you, get over here and help me close up!" She shouted.
I groaned, as did Demyx. Once again time slipped our mind; Accidentally of course. I got up, pushing my chair back, making it hit the table behind me. I winced at the loud noise it made. "We'll talk about the plans after I get off." I said, to Riku and Cloud
"Sure" Riku said, looking at me. "Take your time." Cloud nodded his head in agreement with Riku.
I smiled at them, then walked off with Demyx to where Selphie was, helping her close up the cafe.
*^*
"Bye Selphie! See you bright and early on Monday!" I shouted back into the cafe. She waved back with a smile on her face, then went back to cleaning up. I already said my good byes to Demyx, but he was still in the cafe getting his jacket. I walked over to Cloud's car where he and Riku were standing. "So what is our plans for tonight." I asked, leaning onto Cloud's car.
Cloud brought a hand up to scratch his head. "I'm not sure; We never really talked about it." He said, letting his hand fall to his side.
I rose one eyebrow. "Really? You two have no idea..." I asked, motioning my hands between them.
Riku snorted out a laugh. "Nope, not a clue." He said, shivering from the cold air. "Can we get in the car now?" He asked, clearly irritated by the snow.
Cloud laughed, then took out his keys and opened the car. "Axel, you want a ride?" He asked me.
I nodded my head, grinning. "I call shot gun!" I said, running over to where Riku was about to open the door. "Sorry, I did call it Riku." I said looking at him, then climbing into the passenger seat closing the door. Riku dropped his hand, then sighed muttering something along the lines of 'Pain in the ass'. I know I am, and god I love it.
Riku opened the back door, getting into the car; At the same time Cloud opened the drivers seat and got in.
"Alright," I started, changing the radio station to find something I like. "Since you two can't think of a place to go, I will." I stopped on the rock station, turning down the volume a bit. "And I know the perfect place." I said, grinning and leaning back into the seat.
Riku leaned forward so he could see me. "And that would be-?"He asked, curious.
"A club." I said, looking at both of them.
Cloud smiled. "I'm game. I haven't been to one in ages." He said, looking at me.
"Alright, now I have to convince this thing to go." I said, pointing at Riku.
He glared at me through his bangs. "I'm not a thing you ass." He said to me. "And besides, you know how much I hate dancing."
"Oh come on Riku, one night won't kill you." Cloud said, leaning over his seat to look at Riku.
"Yes it will..." He mumbled in response, crossing his arms over his chest, leaning back on the seat.
I turned in my seat to look at him, doubling my eyes in size and sticking out my lower lip. "Come one Riku," I tilted my head to the side. "Please? - For me?" I asked him, as nicely as I could. He looked at me, no emotion written on his face. Then he looked away, biting his bottom lip, thinking about it.
I've already won half the little battle; If anyone can get Riku to think about something, he's more likely to say yes. He looked back at me, then sighed,defeated. "Fine." He grumbled out. "I'll go- but I won't have fun!" He protested.
"Oh that's a lie, you always have fun when I'm around." I said, turning around so my back faced him. "Plus Cloud's here, which adds to the fun."
Riku groaned out loud. "Joy..." He said, pausing before continuing. "What club is it anyways?" He asked, looking out his window.
"Mystic." I replied. "Demyx told me about it, he said it was actually really cool place. It just opened a few weeks ago."
"I actually wanted to go there." Cloud said, putting the car in reverse and backing out into the road. "So where do we go from here?" He asked, putting the car in drive.
"Our house." Riku and I said in unison. "I need to get changed." I said, grabbing the seat belt and putting it on.
"And I need to shower- bad." Riku said, still looking out the window.
"Alright, your house it is." Cloud said, driving the car down the road.
*^*
Riku's P.O.V.
The car ride was to my house was, how shall I put this- loud. I swear, when those two get together, ugh. They act like sugar high three year olds; It is amusing at times, not going to lie. When we made it to my house, we all went inside. I went straight into the bathroom to take a nice hot shower,while leaving Axel and Cloud to mingle around the house. I took no more than ten minutes in the shower, so I wouldn't keep them waiting for long.
By the time I got out of the shower,I quickly got dressed then went downstairs. Axel and Cloud were already dressed, waiting for me. We all left the house and went back into Cloud's car,driving to the club. It was a long drive, seeing how it was all the way downtown, it took us about twenty five minutes just to get there.
When we did arrive- oh man. It was packed. Cars were parked everywhere what seemed like for miles, and there was a ridiculously huge line outside the club. We were probably going to wait forever just to get in! Axel told us that he had, 'connections' of some sort,so we wouldn't have to wait in the line.
I just hope his 'connections' are good, seeing that he's never been here before. But you never know, Axel does know a lot of people, so I wouldn't be surprised. We finally found a parking spot, I have no idea how, but we did after looking for a few minutes. It wasn't that far from the club which was good.
We made our way over to the back of the line. "You sure you can get us in Axel?" I asked, not really believing that he could.
"Oh yeah. It won't be a problem." He said, pushing through the line of people, Cloud and I following behind him. We made it to the front of the line, after pushing through too many people to count. I saw Axel go straight up to the bouncer.
"Guess who!" He shouted at him.
The bouncer looked down at him, eying him suspiciously. "Who the hell are you?" He said, not sounding too happy. Oh god- Axel's probably going to get him self hurt..
"It's me! Axel!" He said, looking a little hurt.
The bouncer guy looked at him up and down before blinking and smiling. "Whoa, it is you!" He said, laughing. "Man, I couldn't tell it was you."
Axel laughed a bit, "I thought this-" He brought his hand up to his hair,pointing at it. "Would give it away."
The bouncer shrugged. "Hey, it's dark, and I'm already blind as it is." He said. "So what bring you here?"
Axel gave him a look. "The club.." He stated to him.
"Oh- right,stupid question. Here, go in. I wouldn't make you wait in line." He said, motioning for him to get in.
"Thanks man." Axel started, "By the way- these two are with me." He pointed at Cloud and I. The bouncer looked at us,before letting us in.
Axel leaned in close to my ear. "Told you I'd get us in." He said.
"I must say, I did have my doubts." I said, looking at him.
He pointed at him self. "Never doubt the master!" He shouted, making me chuckle, same with Cloud.
We walked down a short dark blue hall, the music getting loud with every other step we took. We pushed open a clear door at was the end of the hall. Wow, was all I could say. The placed was packed, it seemed liked hundreds of people we there. The smell of alcohol instantly hit my sense as we walking in farther, getting through a group of people. There were flashing colored lights,going along with the beat of the techno music that was playing loudly.
After what seemed like ages, we found an open table to sit at. "So,what do you guys think?" Axel asked, yelling a bit to be heard over the music.
"This place is awesome!" Cloud shouted "I'm going to go find me a girl to dance with." He said, leaving us and walking towards the dance floor.
"Well" Axel said, sitting down across from me. "Are you actually going to have any fun?"
I looked around the place one more time, before answering. "Yeah." I paused, and looked back at him. "I think I just need to loosen up and have a good time,for once." I said, surprisingly even myself.
Axel smiled at me. "Good, well I want to go get shit faced. Care to join me?" He asked, standing up in front of me.
I smiled, getting up out of the seat. "Sure, But not too bad. I know I'll end up driving you two idiots home." I said, looking at him.
He laughed, then started walking, me following him. "You know that's true." He said.
This was actually, going to be fun. And that what I needed; Fun. I just wanted to get rid of all the stress I had lately, and what better place to do it than here with friends?
*^*
You do not know how glad I am that I actually agreed to going. Thank god for pushy friends. The night went pretty good. We spent a few hours there, and I actually danced. Well, I was forced at first, but still. That counts as dancing. Axel is completely shit faced, just like he said he wanted to be, and Cloud- Eh, not in the best driving condition.
Well, what do you know. I was going to be the designated driver after all. Shocking isn't it. We all cmae out of the club some time around eleven o'clock and made our way over to Cloud's car. It wasn't as easy as it sounded,thanks to Axel. I love him but, god, he's never drinking around me again. He was giggling like a little girl,every two seconds, and tripping over himself and the air around him.
Thank god Cloud wasn't as bad as him. I don't know what I'd do if both of them were drunk. I shuttered at the thought of that, and them stopped walking when I reached the car.
"Cloud,give me the keys." I said, looking at him on the other side of the car.
Cloud giggled a little, then showed his hands to me. "I don't....don't have...keys." He muttered out of his drunken state.
I rolled my eyes at him. "There in your pocket." I said
He looked at me, like I was some sort of alien,and made no attempt to get the keys.
"I'll come to the rescue!" Axel shouted, stumbling over to Cloud, putting his weight onto the car. He shoved his hand in Cloud pocket, making Cloud laugh and squirm in his spot. Axel stuck his tongue out in concentration. "Aha!" He yelled, holding the shiny keys in his hand. "Now, I shall drive." He slurred, walking over to the drivers seat, hand still in the air showing off the keys.
I stopped him before he made it to the door. "No, give me the keys, I'm driving." I said, sternly.
He leaned in closer to me, and furrowed his brow. "You can't tell me what to do!" He said.
The smell of alcohol tickled my nose. "Yes I can, now give me the keys." I said, slightly annoyed.
He smiled then giggled again. "Okay." he said, thrusting his hand out, handing me the keys.
"Thanks, now come on,get in the car. I want to go home." I said, opening the car door and getting in. A few moments later, Axel and Cloud opened their doors and got in. I started the car, and backed out into the road, careful not to hit anything,or anyone.
The car ride was much quieter than before, surprisingly; Except for the occasional outburst between Axel and Cloud. The ride home did take a little long than before,thanks to me taking a wrong turn. Nothing too serious though. At least they didn;t try to take the wheel from me like last time. That, wasn't pretty...
I finally made it back to our house,and parked in the driveway, then shutting the car off. I turned around to see Cloud. "Since I'm too tired to actually drive you home, your crashing at our house." I said
Cloud then got a look of panic on his face. "No! I need to go home a feed James!" He said, grabbing his hair. James was his pet fish...
I sighed "James will be fine." I said,getting out of the car.
"Are you sure Riku?" He asked, getting out of the car. "What if James dies!"
"He won't..now stop worrying." I said, irritated.
"Cloud's sleeping over?!" Axel shouted,still in the car. He suddenly getting back most of the energy he lost.
"Yeah he is, now come on, get out of the car." I said, closing my door, and walking over to the front door opening it. I flicked the light on, and then kicked off my shoes. Cloud walked in the house, Axel following right behind him. Cloud took off his shoes and his jacket and dropped them onto the floor.
"Your gonna sleep on the-"
Thud.
I turned to see that Axel had tripped when he tried to take his shoes off. "-couch.." I said, finishing my sentence.
Axel moved a little on the floor, then grabbed his arm in pain, "Ow...stupid floor..." He mumbled out.
Cloud snickered, then pointed at him. "You fell." He said, laughing louder. This made Axel laugh to, I don't know why. Seems like everything was funnier when your drunk. Shame...
I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "Axel, get up." I said, looking down at him.
He looked up at me, then blinked. "I can't." He said, closing his eyes.
"So..." I stated, leaning over him more. "Your going to sleep here?"
He nodded his head, then curled up into a ball. A few second later, I heard him snore softly. "Well..that was fast..." I muttered out, a little shocked how fast he fell asleep. I looked at Cloud. "I'm going to bed. Make your self comfortable on the couch." I said making my way up the stairs.
"Goodnight Riku!" he shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
'Finally...away from those fools..' I thought in my head. I made my way to my room, and pushed open the door, closing it quietly behind me. I yawned, feeling a little tired from today, and stretched my arms above my head. I took off my shirt,dropping it somewhere onto the floor, doing the same with my pants.
I may be a neat freak,but I was just too tired to actually put them away. They'll be there in the morning anyways. I crawled into bed, lifting the covers and getting under them,suddenly feeling warm. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my eyes fluttered closed, and I drifted off to sleep.
A/N: 1. The little 'stories' Axel and Demyx shared, I got from Fmylife .com [Best website in the world] I couldn't help myself Xp I needed to put those in somewhere.
2. Glasses = Coolness. Not nerdy-ness Xp Even I wear them lol
3. Hope there weren't a lot of mistakes. I tried to catch them all :p
4.I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D I had fun writing it, and of course, REVIEW!!