Hopelessly I'll Love You Endlessly

Disclaimer: Me and the big guys down at Square-Enix have a deal: If I keep on agreeing that I don't own the game then they don't have to sue me, make me pay all that money I don't have and arrest me for being a general pest. Anyways, I don't own the game.

AN: This chapter is an early post due to the fact that my internet decides it wants to be evil and not allow me to have the pleasure of reading fan fics yet. Instead, I've been cooped up on this crap excuse of a computer, typing away and trying to get through my holidays with a big grin on my face. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and alerted and favourites, really appreciated as always.

Chapter Seven

Stung by Cupid's Sarcastic Arrow

"Smart one Sora, the whole boxers look is really going for you."

"Your sarcasm makes me laugh so hard I can feel my sides splitting." I replied mockingly, earning a sceptical look in return.

"Now who's the sarcastic one?"

I rolled my eyes. "Didn't you bring me any clothes? It's freezing out here."

"Yeah, because I just go wondering around the streets with boys clothing in my hands in case they're wandering around in their Spiderman boxers."

"There's that sarcasm again." I replied and ignored the giggles. "So, what brings you here Kairi? And what's wrong with knocking on the door?" I questioned the auburn haired teen who just smiled innocently.

"I was scared that Leon would open the door and I would look like a big dork in front of him." She answered. "So I'd make you look like the dork, besides, when was the last time we've done this?" Kairi said as I opened the gate that led to my back yard. "Anyways, we were wondering if you wanted to come to Scarlets?"

We sat on one of the benches that looked out to the small pond in the middle of the garden. "We?" she nodded excitedly, "I thought everyone was in trouble because of the party?"

"We are." She reassured. "It's a long story." She whined, I gave her a look as if to say 'go on' and she did. "First of all, you know how Tidus can be when he stays in his house too long right?" I nodded, silently answering her question. "Well seeing as he's the only one who's not grounded, he got Wakka to sneak out which wasn't too hard because apparently Lulu's been ill and sleeping all day. Seeing as Selphie's parents were out on a conference of some sort it was easy for her to come out. Then they came to get me, and let me tell ya, it wasn't easy. It's a good thing that I can run, my dad's dogs started to chase me and Tidus until we got out."

I laughed, "You ran?" I asked, amused by her little story. "The great Kairi Mauve ran from some dogs? Now that I gotta see. I don't even remember the last time you did anything sporty."

She smiled. "When we used to play on the islands, and like run everyday, that's when." She informed happily. "So anyways, as I was saying, we decided to come and get you, Everyone's waiting further down the street so that we don't get caught, you in?"

I looked at her uneasy, "I don't know Kairi, I got in a lot of trouble with Leon and I did come back at a ridiculous time last night." She clasped her hands and looked at me with wide violet puppy eyes. Her bottom lip pouting out and her whole being begging me to go. This time I could not give in – I won't give in. If I went out and Leon found out then I've abused his trust again and I couldn't go through that whole enchilada again. Kairi was going to have to get used to the idea that her puppy look doesn't work anymore and get used to me saying: "Fine I'll go, stop looking at me like that."

Okay, at least I know I'm doing the wrong thing. I've seriously got to become a heartless mutant or something, either that or start hating puppies.

She smiled happily and hugged me, nearly making me fall of the stone bench and lose my balance. One she pulled away she ran an eye over my choice of clothing before smiling. "Though, I think that you better grab some pants or something. Boxers aren't the latest fashion you know?" She joked, earning a playful glare from me in return.

"You should be grateful that I actually agreed to going, never mind my clothing."

"You guys can count me in." Kairi and I both turned our heads around to see Roxas on his balcony smirking away.

"No way Roxas, you're in enough trouble as it is. Do you want to make Leon even madder at you?"

"And I'm also you're only safe ticket to getting some pants and clothing. Unless you want to take the risk of Leon catching you? That is." He answered smugly; he and I both knew he was going to get his own way.

I turned to look at Kairi. "He has a point."

I growled and turned to back to Roxas. "Fine, but I mean it Rox, No coffee."

"Yeah, yeah I know the drill." He waved me off with a hand and bent down, only to come back up and throw a pair of black jeans a white t-shirt and some shoes in my direction. They landed no where near me, and I had to walk over near my kitchen door to retrieve them as Roxas began to descend his balcony and down the netting along the side of the wall which was kept to keep the flowers and bushes in tact. "Hey Kairi," Roxas greeted as he finally reached ground level.

"Hey Roxas," She replied as I started putting the clothes on. It was only then that I realized how stupid we must be and look. Here we are trying to sneak out of the house, and I'm getting dressed right in front of my kitchen windows whilst Roxas and Kairi are chattering away loud enough to alert wolves. "So, why do you want to go to Scarlets so bad?" She questioned him.

He shrugged, "I worked there yesterday and I wanted to go back there today." Kairi seemed pretty content with his answer and they both turned their attention to me. "Sora, would you hurry up? Those pants are your size."

"Yes, but the amount of belts you've managed to loop around them has made it impossible for me to get… over…my…hips!" I growled between tugs then finally managed to get it over my hips.

"Here's a little tip: next time untie the belts and then you'll get somewhere." He replied sarcastically as we walked over to the gate. Roxas led the way which was followed then Kairi then me in a single file. The blond froze once we reached the wooden gate and turned to look at us. "Is it really going to be that easy to get out of here like this?" He asked.

"He's right Sora," Kairi said as she also turned to face me. "Leon is going to notice that you guys are gone sooner or later."

I looked at her incredulously. "Now you're getting a conscience about it?" She glared at me and so did Roxas. "Look, there is no doubt in my mind that Leon thinks that we're sleeping considering last night. All our lights are off in our rooms and both you and I know that Leon is not into the whole 'check-on-them-whilst-they're-sleeping' type. So let's just go, and be back here by ten okay?"

The surprise look they gave me was hilarious. I think that's because it was the first time in years that they've seen me actually say something that made sense and give an order. They looked at me like I was a different person, but to be fair, that was the first time that they actually asked me for something advisable. A new feeling of confidence for some reason took over me and it felt kind of different, but nice.

"Only if you're sure, if not then it'll be you I blame." Roxas warned before unlocking the hatch and walking through the gate, Kairi and I following afterwards. "Shh, I think I hear something." Roxas whispered. We all kept on walking cautiously and made it past the house then into the driveway.

Whatever high I was on from my previous speech, completely vanished away the minute a bright light over took all of our vision and hands and arms were flown to eyes to shield away the brightness. It was light from a car of some sort and once it dimmed we got a good look at what was ahead of us. Suddenly, I wish I hadn't opened my eyes.

Leon, being his black clad self, was leaning uncomfortably against a black motorbike. One hand in his leather pants whilst the other was swinging a set of keys mercifully around his finger. Both Kairi and Roxas sent me 'I told you' glares before turning their attention back to Leon. "You know, I honestly expected more from you guys, being Harts and all." He spoke casually then stopped leaning on the mysterious bike.

"Leon we-"

"First of all you should know that the walls, even on the outside, are hollow enough to hear a pin drop. Secondly, Sora, when you want to get dressed, make sure that there isn't anyone in the kitchen: it's the most sociable room in the house." My face was as red as Kairi's hair and my eyes were as wide as the entire ocean. The difference between other big brothers and Leon is that with Leon, you can never tell exactly what he's getting at. He can be as calm as glistering water and the most relaxed person in the world, but he can take sarcasm and torture to a whole new level.

"Wait a sec," Roxas interrupted, "I know for a fact that you just came out of the shower when we snuck out." He looked at Leon suspecting, "Cloud told you didn't he?" He accused, and pointed a finger to prove his point. "I knew he was no good." Roxas then turned to me. "Should the words 'I told you' so ring a bell in that head of yours? Because it should with the amount of times I've been right."

I glared at my brother. "I wouldn't blame him if he did with the way you've been treating him today." I argued back.

"Actually," Cloud's muffled voice entered the scene and brought both pair of blue eyes onto the direction of the bike. Leon unfolded his arms and moved, next to Kairi, so that we could see the other black-clad man sitting appropriately on the bike, with one leg on the ground to balance himself out. He took off his helmet and allowed his spikes to spring out. "I didn't. Leon figured this one out all on his own." He replied sarcastically and nodded in the direction of the eldest brunette.

"Here I am getting dressed after having a shower, when I hear the phone ring. Apparently according to Jen across the street, there is a half naked guy trying to break either into or out of the house. "Then, as I go into the kitchen to look into the garden at what all the noise is, I see my half naked brother trying to get a top over his head. So I think to myself 'Now I know that they wouldn't sneak out, after our little conversation today' but for once, my brain seemed to fail me."

Goddamn it, why is he so calm? Why isn't he shouting and going off the rails at us? Instead, he's going on as if it were an everyday thing. Maybe Cloud has changed Leon for the better, but knowing my brother, this could all be false and the worst was still to come.

It was then that Kairi started to speak. I notice the wine redhead turn a deeper shade of red as soon as Cloud took off his helmet and the shade deepened once Leon stood directly next to her. I would have been sick if I knew I wasn't in so much trouble. "Leon, it's my entire fault. I tried to get Sora to sneak out and insisted that he brought Roxas along." She regarded me and my twin before turning back to meet those grey eyes. "If anyone should be punished it's me." She claimed.

"No one is in trouble are they Leon?" Cloud said, cutting Leon off from whatever he was going to say. The blond fixed my brother with a determined look, one of the first actual facial expressions I've seen him make all day.

They stared at each other for a good few seconds, Clouds stare not faulting once, and then Leon sighed in defeat. "I hate you, you know." He murmured to Cloud.

"I know," was the mildly happy reply as the spiky blond put his helmet on once more and started up the bike.

Leon turned and looked back to us. "I'll explain later, but you guys can go out. I know where you're going and I want you guys back at ten at the latest, have you got that?" he asked. We all, including Kairi, nodded at my brother and watched him hop onto the bike behind Cloud. "Oh before I forget, it was nice seeing you again Kairi." Leon added and placed his own helmet on.

"It was nice meeting you." Cloud agreed and drove off before she could reply; the only thing filling the silence was the roaring of his engine before it vanished immediately into the distance.

Soon, a hand hit my bare arm and I looked into angry violet eyes. "Why didn't you tell me that there is another hot guy living in your house?" Kairi cried, arms flailing in the air to express herself as we began to walk down the street.

"I-" Another hit on my other bare arm. "Ouch! Will everyone stop hitting me? I'm damaged enough as it is." This time it wasn't Kairi but Roxas who hit me.

"Did you not see the way Cloud has Leon whipped?"

"Are you serious?" I answered his question with my own. "Leon is not whipped and if it wasn't for Cloud, we wouldn't even be going out to see Axel and Reno, so do yourself a favor and be grateful." I ordered and ignored the incoherent things that he murmured underneath his breath. Not before long, we met up with Tidus, Wakka and Selphie.

: :

It would be the understatement of the century to say that Scarlets was packed.

The coffee place was crammed with teenagers and young adults trying to buy their drinks and weave though the large assortments of people. It seemed as though no one went for the whole 'coffee to go' thing around here. Most of the students, though, were making their way upstairs so that they could get more room and a better chance of some space. I recognized Axel, Reno and another redhead girl making drinks behind the counter then serve them to the ongoing customers. I hope that this is their busiest hour, if not, then I don't want to think about what this place is like when it is.

Roxas, who had been talking to Wakka throughout most of our journey here, noticed Axel (I don't see how he couldn't with hair like his) and said "I'm going over to Axel; I'll catch up with you guys in a minute." Then he was off to do exactly what he said.

"This place looks awesome!" Tidus declared as he looked around in awe.

"It's really something ya, I think I might come here on a regular." Wakka agreed.

"I would go and find seats, but it looks like they're all occupied." Kairi said, keeping her violet eyes unfocused as she constantly looked around for an opening.

That's when Roxas reappeared with Reno and a huge smile on their faces. "Hey Sora, long time no see." He greeted, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I take it these are your friends huh?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, they are. It's great to see you Reno, even though it's only been like twenty-four hours." I joked.

"Man I love your brother yo; he should work for me more often."

"Hey Reno! A little help couldn't go amiss. You could reunite later." Axel shouted all the way over from behind the bar.

Reno's eyes rolled, his back turned to Axel, so he mimicked his younger brothers face. "That lazy son of a bitch is giving me orders? I own this place yo." He smirked. "Anyways, what I was about to say before I got rudely interrupted that you guys can go downstairs for a little while if you want. I'll come back down later with some drinks."

"Really?" I asked curiously, not believing that it was that easy. He is Axel's brother after all. "What's the catch?"

A smirk. "Let Rox work here until you guys have to leave, I could really use a pair of hands right now and this little guy sure can make one mean cappuccino." It wasn't even a question, but after I gave some thought to it, I found myself nodding. "Perfect. Okay, no one is down there, but if you see this big bald guy, tell him I sent you down." He winked and turned on his heel. As soon as Roxas got the A-OK from me, he was already gone and left Reno to try and walk through the crowd of people on his own.

"You know him?" Selphie asked, green eyes watching the retreating man.

"Yeah, I met him last night. He's Axel's brother and owns this place."

"Now that makes sense why this place is vibrant. It matches those two perfectly by the look of it." Selphie supposed as we turned the around and made our ways to the sealed off door that led to downstairs.

Then, on the same spot as last time, Kairi hit me on my arm. "Couldn't you tell me that Reno's brother is hot as well? Did you see those eyes and that voice?"

I looked at her dubiously as she walked down the stairs in front of me. "He looks just like Axel, do you have crush on Axel as well?"

"As a matter of fact I do, and if you as so much breath a word to him about it, I'll…I'll…" she paused to think, and then it came to her. "I'll make Selphie think of something to do to you." She threatened, making shivers go down my spine at the though of what those huge green eyes could do.

"Already got ideas brewin'" The brunette chirped as we all finally reached the bottom. I've never been downstairs before, but the sight was truly as unique as the first two floors. There was a medium sized stage situated in the middle of the room with a couple of lights above it for emphasis. White and yellow couches and chairs bordered the room and blended in flawlessly with the turquoise painted walls and the luminous pink flooring. "Wow!" Selphie voiced our thoughts.

"I told you this place is awesome. The only thing is, we have to wait until midnight until anyone actually performs." Tidus said and led the way to one of the abandoned couches.

None of us noticed the door right at the back of the room, well that was until a large scary looking man started to come out from it. "Look, it'll only be a couple more minutes. Just remember this is your idea." He said, and then turned around to face us. His face should have been stunned or something to see five teenagers gawping at him for talking to a door, but the guy's face kept still as he walked over to us. Intimidation built up inside me with every step he took. I couldn't see his eyes because of the dark shades that overshadowed them and this man must have been about 6 ft five. "This area is sealed off."

"W-we got permission," I stuttered. "From Reno, he said we could use this area for a little while." I answered truthfully.

"Are you related to Roxas?" He asked, and I nodded. "Don't go wandering to that backroom. Whatever noises you hear, ignore them." He warned. "The names Rude."

"I'm Sora. This is Kairi, Wakka, Selphie and Tidus." They all gave a shy smile or a timid wave once they were introduced. Rude gave us one sharp nod before he walked out of the room and up the stairs. He wore a suit and looked sharp, which is why I'm guessing we seemed kind of scared by him.

Once he was out of earshot, Tidus spoke "That guy was huge. I thought he was gunna crush us for sitting in his seat or something" He slung an arm around Selphie's shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. Wakka was too busy looking at the entrance to see when our drinks were coming to notice, but Kairi on the other hand was looking vaguely jealous.

"Say Kairi, what would you do if I told you that there was someone here I know who thinks you're cute and wants to date you?" I asked her and chuckled to myself at her expression. She sat directly in front of me on the other couch next to Wakka, hope shining in her violet eyes.

"I would say tell me now." She ordered eagerly.

"Ingus Ivory." I answered merrily. "He's upstairs now, I saw him earlier."

"Ingus Ivory?" She repeated and looked at like I was mental. "The guy who used to believe he was Peter Pan back in kindergarten?"

"Ingus Ivory the one who got hot since seventh grade?" Selphie joined in, "he's upstairs now?" I nodded.

"How hot is he on a scale on one to ten, ten being the hottest?" Kairi asked, suddenly interested in the conversation.

Selphie looked at her boyfriend before turning back to Kairi, "I can't answer that, I have a boyfriend now." Tidus smirked and looked at me. What he didn't know was by doing that, Selphie held up five fingers in one hand and four on the other to Kairi, whose eyes widened and now looked up at the stairs as though it was her destiny.

"So Sora, how do you know the owner? He's got us treated like fucking royalty man, it's awesome!" Tidus asked me, a grin playing on his features.

"Don't swear," Kairi warned, entering in this conversation. "It's rude."

Tidus mumbled something illogical but didn't ignore the glare he received from the wine redhead and gave her one in return. "I… He was in the bar when I came here last night." I started, hoping that it would stop the looks the two gave each other. "Axel had already told him about me and Roxas, so we immediately got on."

"So, you gunna tell us about you're little mystery date last night? Or is it still under wraps?" Wakka asked me, he and Tidus both wearing an equally annoying smirk whilst Selphie and Kairi looked at me curiously.

"You said that you didn't go on a date!" Selphie complained, "What's with all the secrets Sora?"

"There are no secrets and there was no date, for the last time! I met up, here, with a friend and just hung out for a bit. There was no date, there was no romance there was no nothing."

They all stared at me shocked. "Geesh! What got your Moogles in a twist?" Selphie asked rhetorically.

"Probably his new girlfriend." Tidus winked and sent the rest of them in a fit of laughter. I couldn't keep the smile away as I saw my friends laughing. Even if it was at my expense. As soon as everyone regained normality Tidus looked up at his watch and back towards the entrance. "How long does it take to bring down some drinks?" He complained. "I'm gunna go and ask about them. That would be three hot chocolates, one mocha and one coffee right?" He asked, blue eyes scanning around the room to check for nods. Tidus nodded once and made a run towards the stairs.

"Selph, I need to go to the bathroom," Kairi said once Tidus was upstairs, "Come with me?"

"As if I could say no." Selphie replied happily. The two remaining females rose from their seats and walked side by side to the entrance but were quickly stopped by Wakka.

"You girls know that there is a bathroom right over there right?" He pointed behind us to the two doors that stood way at the end of the room. They were black and on one door held a circle with an arrow pointing diagonally down leftwards in a bright blue, whilst the other had the same but the arrow was pointing diagonally to the upper right hand side and in pink.

Kairi giggled and turned back around to go up the stairs. "We know!" She chirped happily and went upstairs with Selphie in tow. The sound of their footsteps filled the silence Wakka and I was left in.

Wakka rolled his hazel eyes before regarding me and threw a scrunched up napkin at my face. "You okay there buddy? You seemed pretty out of it earlier back."

I looked up at him. "I'm fine." I answered. He gave me a look to say 'I know you're lying so you might as well come out and say it'. There was never any fooling Wakka. "Well… it's just…. Aren't you scared?"

He looked at me bewildered. "Scared of what?"

"Going back to Besaid and going to a new college away from us?"

"Oh, so that's what's been beating you up?" He smiled warmly at me, and stretched over to place a hand on my shoulder. "I think that it's pretty evidential that I don't care what people think, otherwise I wouldn't be hanging around with you guys." He joked, and earned himself a playful hit from me in return before continuing. "So, I don't really care if I make no friends there or not. All that matters to me is that I know that I'd always have you guys to come back to if things don't work out there ya?" I nodded and smiled, a little satisfied with his answer, but not completely.

"But what if you do make new friends and you have a lot more fun with them."

He sighed. "I've had this exact same conversation with Kairi. It's kind of strange how you guys are like the same." He said thoughtfully. "Even if I do make new friends, I can't shake you guys off that easily. How long have I known you guys now?"

"Since we were like five or six I think."

"And do you really think I'm going to let all those years go down the drain? I'll be back to visit and you guys can talk and write to me all the time. So stop worrying ya? We'll all see each other soon. Until then, we just gotta make the most of our time together now right?"

Make the most of our time together.

"Right." I breathed. Just at that precise moment, Tidus made his reappearance and jumped onto the couch that Wakka sat on. The blond propped his feet up on Wakka's knees and rested his head, on both hands, on the armrest.

"Our drinks will be ready soon but. Your brother is going to bring it down to us." He closed his eyes and sighed merrily. The elder teen obviously wasn't happy about being a foot rest and shoved Tidus' feet off him, making them collide with the coffee table in front. "What the hell man! I was getting in the mood for sleep."

"Yeah well you're not at home now brudda and I am not your furniture." Wakka claimed and smiled, proud that he got Tidus to sit up.

"Oh, come on. My muscles are tired and my feet hurt so much. Would a little sympathy and foot rub really kill you?" He pleaded, trying to pull of the puppy dog look but failed as Wakka laughed straight in his face.

"If you think that I'm gunna give those a foot rub then you got another thing coming. I've seen you're feet before and I'm never going near them again."

"Okay, that was one time and I swear I don't know how they got there. I must have run through a bush or something."

Wakka scoffed. "Or Oogie Boogie's dismantled corpse? There were six of them, in each sock!" He said loudly, trying to get the message clear to the reluctant blond that he wasn't touching his feet.

I pretended to listen and watch the two of my best friends argue but I couldn't quite get over what Wakka said before Tidus came back down. 'Make the most of our time together.' I want to spend more time with Wakka before he leaves, I really do, but then there's Riku. After so many years, we're finally getting somewhere as in terms of friendship, and I want to spend as much time as I possibly could with him rebuilding what we once had. Even if that means as just friends and nothing more, as long as I get to know that it's still the Riku from four years ago, I'm happy. Because lately, he doesn't seem like him. Riku seems cut off from all reality and lives in a world where he thinks he can keep up this charade of not speaking to me properly.

I guess Zexion was right, (although we all know that's not a big shocker) I'm going to have to tell Riku about how I feel about him sooner or later. That is, if I can even figure out what it is I feel about him. I know that I love him, as a friend, and that no matter what, I always will. But the dreams and general way I react to him now proves that I want him maybe more than a friend. Could I really be falling for someone who used to be a distant memory?

The sound of high heels and familiar giggles coming down the stairs brought me out of my gaze to the floor and forced me to look in that direction. "How have I not noticed him before?" I heard Kairi ask.

"I told you he was cute. You should so totally ask him out. Or at least get to know him again." Selphie said a lot clearer now that they were fully downstairs and walking back to their previous seats. Once they were comfortable, Selphie spoke once more. "Have you guys seen upstairs? It's awesome. I think that if we give it about ten minutes, it won't be so packed, so we can go back up there."

"Have any of you guys got the time?" I asked, and then glared at Kairi who sat next to me. "I left my phone and my watch in my other pants."

Kairi laughed audibly, and I was happy that she was the only one in on the inside joke. "No one told you to come down like that." She countered then pulled out her pink flip phone from her back pocket. "And its quarter past nine, why?"

"Because Leon said that we have to be back by ten remember? Speaking of which, we'll leave here by about half past nine."

Selphie whined in protest. "Awwwwwwww, But it was your idea for us to all hang together. You can't just bail on us Sora,"

"I know guys, but Leon… Look, I have to be back at ten or else, and you know exactly how my brother can be."

"Please, enlighten us all at how Leon can be." My head shot up just as soon as I heard my elder brother's voice coming from the entrance to the room. He held a large tray with four drinks on it. Leon is like the only one in our family who can go on unnoticed and remain silent. I never hear him coming, and it's as though he's a ninja or something roaming through the shadows. If I was him coming down the stairs with glasses on a tray and tried to remain silent, I would've probably slipped, fell straight on my ass and crashed every single cup I had on me.

Leon on the other hand, can be as sneaky as Selphie, just without the cunning plans. "Leon?" I cried incredulously, not believing that the man walking towards us was in fact my older brother. "What are you doing here?"

He placed the drinks on the table in front of us. "Didn't Tidus say that 'your brother' was going to bring your drinks down?" He asked me flatly. I looked at Tidus in front of me, who had a cheeky grin while his sky blue eyes purposely avoided me. "Don't worry, I'm not going to interfere, I'm going to sit way back over there and ignore you completely."

I gave him a curious look; I really didn't trust anything that came out of his mouth, even if he did sound genuine. "I see," The tone of my voice was evident that I didn't trust him; my brother smirked, knowing what I was thinking. "And where is Cloud? Didn't he come with you?" I asked.

Leon shrugged. "He's upstairs talking to Reno. Apparently they know each other or something. He'll be back down with the rest of your drinks in a second." With that Leon turned on his heel and walked right to the back of the room where he said he would and patiently awaited his friend. I turned back to glower at Tidus, but Kairi's red face caused me to roll my eyes and keep whatever thoughts I had to myself.

The next half hour consisted of me, my friends including Roxas, talking about nothing in particular and generally having a good time. Rox came back to us fifteen minutes ago claiming that Axel had to run home and Reno let him off. Leon and Cloud remained in the background, silent as mice but didn't seem interested in us what so ever. I intertwined myself in conversations with my friends, but most of the time I kept drifting off into my own world and couldn't help but think of other things.

If other things were code for Riku of course.

I thought long and hard about it and I've decided that no matter what the outcome, I'm going to make Riku understand how much he means to me. I don't want to go on with my life thinking about 'what ifs'. This may well be my last chance to have my best friend back for good, even if he is moving to another world in a couple of weeks. Four years ago when Riku left us, I didn't fight for our friendship or try and force him to do anything. I sorta just accepted it.

Kairi on the other hand didn't handle it so well. When Riku left, at the time, I took it really bad. I refused to talk to most people for a while and I just wasn't myself. It was as though he took my happiness away with him and as soon as that happened, Kairi took the initiative to take matters in her own hands. She never told me the full extent of what happened that night, but all I know is that she went to his house to 'talk' to him, but knowing Kairi, it could have been screeching. All I remember was that the day after Kairi 'spoke' to him, she was in a bad mood and Riku wasn't seen at school for at least two days. There have been times when I wanted to ask the auburn haired teen about what did happen that night, but I ruled it off as none of my beeswax.

By the time five to ten came about, Leon was standing at our table with Cloud by his side. Kairi, who was sitting next to me, snapped her finger in front of my face to bring me out of my reverie and instead look into amused grey eyes. That feeling that my older brother was going to do something… Leony crept back up and the distrust came swimming back to my oceanic blue orbs.

"Cloud and I are heading back home now."

"Okay," Roxas said slowly and uneasily, obviously not liking where Leon was going with this either. "So…?"

"Well, according to my watch," He brought his right arm up to inspect the time on his old leather watch, "You guys have about four minutes to be back at the house before I class you both as late, and you'll have to deal with the punishment."

Roxas, who was leaning back coolly in the chair next to Tidus, shot up immediately at our brother's statement and looked at him incredulously. "W-What? But you guys are here a-and… That's not fair; it's a fifteen minute walk!" He cried, looking at me for some help to argue with, but we both knew we were goners when it came down to arguing with Leon. "And Sora runs like a snail. You can't be serious."

Leon kept his gaze on the watch the whole time through Roxas' little rant, obviously unmoved by his words. "Three minutes." I looked at my twin in his matching blue eyes and without a word of protest, we both shot up instantaneously from our seats and ran straight out of the building known as Scarlets.

: :

I found myself lying against our front lawn nine minutes later, my chest heaving up and down and sweat rushed down my face as though they were waterfalls. I am so unhealthy, but Roxas looked like he was in a worst condition than me. Never again am I running like that, that was probably my whole exercise for like a month. It was stupid for us to think that we could get here in less than three minutes, we ran the whole way without stopping once. Even when Leon drove past us with Cloud on his motorbike, we didn't stop. He was even smug enough to shout '30 seconds!' over the roaring of the engine. The jerk.

There was no way I was doing that ever again. Roxas nudged me with his foot as we got up from the ground and began to solemnly make our way inside our house. Okay, so maybe it's not all that great having my older brother back. He awaited us in the hallway, having been at the house five minutes before we had, and still wore that amused smirk. Both Roxas and I glared at him, my twin flipped him the middle finger once we strode past him and heard his proud chuckle. "Too bad that it's a Friday tomorrow for you guys," He sympathized pathetically. "Oh well, that means you have the whole weekend to fulfil out what ever it is I make you do as punishment."

We ignored him the best we could and continued on upstairs to our designated rooms. Muttering a sardonic 'goodnight Leon' to our older brother before he could say another word. Roxas' room was opposite mine and before we went into our rooms, Roxas stopped me by saying "Sora, I have a pretty good idea about what happened to you last night." His voice was low and almost uncaring, I took a couple of steps to meet him, and saw that there was a hint of annoyance lingering in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my eyes still searching his.

"I'm not the oblivious one Sora," He started, "Reno wouldn't tell me anything about who you was with last night, except that he's a rich, green and silver person from Mars." My twin rolled his eyes at how Reno was much like his younger brother. "You came back covered in sand," he continued, "and in the early hours of the morning." He stared at me dully and I stared back curiously.

"So…?" I asked slowly.

"So, I thought to myself: 'when was the last time Sora did something like this with an old friend?' And I thought back to about five or six years ago when you used to do that with none other that the silver and green Martian himself: Riku." I didn't form an answer or a lie, we both knew I was pathetic at both, so I stared at his black expression shocked. I knew he knew that I knew about his hatred for the silverette and the evidence was clear in his eyes when he said my friends' name. He turned to his door, and touched the handle before saying. "Don't do anything stupid Sora," He opened the door then shut it again. "And I want my clothes back in the morning."

I smiled at his last request, but that soon vanished when I thought about all the possible things my brother could do to make me see sense. If it wasn't for Rox, I would still be in a sullen mood all that time when Riku first left. He made me realize that Riku wasn't worth me getting all beat down and that I have plenty more friends to who will stand by me. I tried to shake of the feeling that Riku wouldn't want anything to do with me and instead turned back towards my door. Though, what I was not expecting was for it to be unlocked and open slightly.

I was sure that, without a doubt, I left it closed before I left, and I know for certain that I've been locking myself in my room ever since I've had those dreams about my ex-best friend. There was no way that Leon would have opened it and there was no way that he could have gotten into it even if he tried. Only Kairi knew where my secret hiding place was for my key, whereas my spare one was with me at all times (except that now they were always in my pants which are currently still in my room). I gave the door one more curious look before turning to the wall opposite me and checked behind my mirror. The key was still there in its usual place.

I approached my door once more and felt a cool gust of wind gently whisper on my skin. Then I remembered, I recklessly left my window open for the whole world to try and get into my house, but then again, who would want to break in? Destiny Islands hardly has any crime, but why would someone want to break into my room?

I shook my head, and regarded it as paranoia and lack of sleep. My tired arms pushed the wooden threshold gently, and entered into my darkened room. There was no point of me turning on my lights as I figured that I was going to relieve myself of my brother's clothing, and be sandwiched between my bed covers and mattress. I got on both hands and knees before I searched the floor for the jeans that I wore previously. Once I found them, I retrieved my key from them and locked my door, tested the handle to make sure that it was locked and went to put it on the dresser beside my bed, but dropped it accidentally.

Rolling my eyes at nothing in particular, I got on all fours again and searched for the wretched things. With one hand propping me up, my other was able to touch a pencil, a scrunched up note of some sort, a sneaker that still had a foot in it, my key.

Wait – WHAT!

I jumped the second that I realized that there was life in the foot that was protected in the shoe, rose to my feet and stumbled back a few steps. I nearly screamed, but that wouldn't be manly enough, and I didn't know who it was. My breaths were coming in short and for all I know, there was a crazy psycho person sitting on my bed. Then – then they had the audacity to chuckle, a chuckle I was all too familiar with. I didn't have time to ask who the hell it was before he started speaking, but I had a feeling I already knew anyways.

"A Martian… from Mars?" He asked, a mixture of amusement and incredulity to his calm, deep voice. "I thought I was more suited for Pluto. Damn." He whispered with no emotion to his voice what so ever in his beautiful voice.