Always There
The Young and the Restless
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the things advertised/used in this fan fiction, or anything in the after note. You know the deal.
Author's Note: Now before you begin reading this installment of Always There let me just say thanks again for all of the reviews.
This chapter is another one of those transition chapters just to help move things along and possibly clear up any questions you may have. I hope you enjoy it and please leave a review!
"So that's all there is to it?" Riku asked, writing down the answer to an equation.
"That's it, FAA' di Bruno's formula," Sora responded, watching as Riku finished the problem and used the formula correctly.
When Riku finished the next few problems, he looked up at his tutor with an unsure expression on his face. Sora read over his pupil's work carefully. "Very good," he said with a smile.
"I'm finally starting to get this sh- I mean... challenging math," Riku said sheepishly.
"Yes, you are. Though according to Professor Kravitz, you need to start paying attention more in her class," Sora remarked, raising a brow.
"Sora... so you are gay!" came Axel's voice from behind.
The brunette turned to see his roommate in nothing but a towel. Axel grinned at Sora, causing the younger man to blush.
"Riku, this is my roommate, Axel," Sora introduced, suddenly looking down at his book.
The green-eyed teenager turned to see his tutor's roommate. Riku was speechless; Sora's roommate was very handsome. After that, Riku immediately turned back to his calculus book and pretended to be working on another problem.
"What I thought," Axel said, walking into his own bedroom and closing the door behind him.
Moments later, Axel returned, dressed in a button down shirt and dark pants, looking sexier than ever.
"Well, I'm off to my date with my lover," Axel professed, putting an emphasis on the last word. "Don't wait up." With that, the tall red-head vacated the dorm room.
There was an awkward silence in the dorm room. Riku soon noticed how uncomfortable the brunette he was crushing on appeared, and wanted to do something about it. He moved closer to Sora after placing his calculus book down on the coffee table in front of them, gazing at the brunette with his forbidden eyes of lust and pleasure.
The blue-eyed brunette glanced up from his own book, wondering why Riku had suddenly moved from where he was sitting. With one swift movement, Riku closed Sora's book and gave him a smirk. The younger man's face immediately turned red, he knew what would come if he did not stop the older man.
"Riku," Sora started, his voice cracking, "did you finish the rest of that homework assignment?"
Riku continued to gaze affectionately at his tutor. "What assignment?" he said, his voice seemingly deeper.
Sora's eyes widened as he saw Riku's hand come up and touch his cheek. "What are you doi-"
"Shh..." Riku whispered, placing a finger on the blue-eyed man's lips. He really liked Sora and he hoped that somehow Sora would soon return those feelings.
Dee do dee.
Riku, who was lost in Sora's eyes, ignored his cell phone's ring.
Sora, however, did not, "Riku, I think your phone is ringing," he managed to say.
Dee do dee.
"Fuck," Riku mumbled with an exasperated with a sigh, reaching into his pocket as if the phone had only rang once.
"What do you want?" Riku said rudely into his phone. The moment he was having with his crush had faded away. He had been getting so close to getting Sora to like him, he knew it. "Grandma? Sorry, I just uhm... thought you were someone else, yeah sorry. What? Oh. Really? At the corner of... got it. I'll be there, love you too, bye," Riku hung up his phone and stood up. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but my grandmother's car broke down and I need to go get her."
Sora, relieved that Riku's phone had rang, gave his pupil a smile, "Sure, we can schedule another session some other time, good luck with your grandmother."
Riku left the dorm room after that, giving Sora the chance to unpack and organize.
Riku hurried out into the parking lot to his car. He wanted to be sure his grandmother was safe. After backing out of the parking lot and pulling out into the road, Riku's leaf-green eyes gazed to each street sign as he passed them to ensure he would not get lost. Thunder struck and rain started to pour at a rapid pace, the man turned on his windshield wipers and hoped his grandmother had brought an umbrella with her. Eventually, Riku turned down a road, seeing his grandmother's 1985 Chevy Cavalier parked in front of one of the shops.
"Riku, your old and dear grandmother is getting wet!" Rayne shouted from afar, holding a shopping bag above her head to help prevent getting wetter than she already was.
Immediately after he parked his car, Rayne opened the passenger door and got inside. "Thank goodness you have a cell phone," Rayne said, expressing her gratitude.
"No problem."
After that, Rayne and her grandson drove home. As soon as Riku walked inside his home, he realized how hungry he was. Thankfully, his grandmother had left him a plate of food earlier. Riku took the plate down to his room and ate, eventually falling asleep on his desk afterwards.
Thump-knock.
Sora jerked his head up from his history notebook. After trying to unpack his things for an hour, he had decided to study for his classes and finish up some assignments. The sound he had just heard had come from the door. Grabbing a pan from off of the kitchen counter, Sora crept toward the door to his dorm. He opened the door up just a bit to see something that left his mind with many questions and sudden acquisitions. The surprised brunette's eyes widened as his roommate continued to make out with his date. Sora knew who the other boy was, since he shared a class with him. The shorter blonde's name was Roxas, and right now he looked like a mess.
Axel and Roxas leaned against the door, still into each other, causing Sora to be pushed back as the door swung open. After a short glance, Sora noted that Roxas's shirt and pants were undone. He also noted Axel's hand in his lover's pants. The wide-eyed brunette backed up as his roommate and the blonde stumbled into the room, still attached, and eventually stumbled into Axel's room. Thankfully, Axel kicked the door to his room closed behind him, for privacy.
Sora closed the front door to the dorm slowly. After the intimate moment he had just witnessed, he decided to forget about studying, take a cold shower, and go to bed.
The next morning, a knock on Sora's bedroom door awoke him, but before he could get up and answer it, his roommate invited himself inside and settled himself upon Sora's bed.
"Ever heard of waiting until I let you in? What if I were nude or something," Sora questioned.
"All the better for me," Axel replied, grinning. "Say, I was just wondering whether or not you were a breakfast person."
"What? Yeah, sure, if I have the time. Why?" Sora wondered aloud.
"Oh, I was just making some eggs and toast for my date and I, and I just decided to ask you if you wanted any, since we have extra."
Axel's date? He's still here? Then that means... oh.
"... uhm, sure, save me a piece, let me just get up first," Sora forced out. He could feel his cheeks turning red.
The red-head patted his roommate's thigh and left the room short after to allow Sora to get ready.
What is with him? I wouldn't expect him to be nice to me like that, even if he did have extra food. Or maybe, he wants me to keep what I saw a secret? But, I don't think he knows I saw that... he sure is a split personality, that's for sure. Sora walked out of his room, in his night clothes, and without taking notice of anyone, went into the bathroom to get ready.
"That was my roommate," Axel stated, watching adoringly as his lover bit into a piece of toast.
Roxas smiled at the red-head in front of him, giving him a light kiss after swallowing his food.
Minutes later, Sora walked out of the bathroom showered and dressed, and for the first time that day, he noted the time. "Five-thirty! You woke me up at five-thirty for toast?" he shouted.
Axel glanced up from staring at Roxas and cocked his head. "Well aren't you a grouchy one," he remarked. "I do one nice thing for you... and you get so frisky, makes me wonder what you are like on your birthday."
The brunette rolled his eyes at the remark and dragged himself over to where Axel and Roxas were sitting. Roxas scooted over on the couch to make room for the extra person, sliding a plate over to him as he sat down.
"So, Sora, where's your boyfriend?" Axel questioned, causing Sora to spit out his juice.
"What? Boyfriend? I don't have a... Riku? He's not my... I'm just tutoring him," Sora corrected, stuttering between words and phrases. To think he had left home to get away from these types of acquisitions.
Roxas turned to Axel with a confused expression on his face, "You didn't tell me he was gay."
"Well, he is, and now you know," Axel said with a grin causing his lover to return that grin.
"Sora," Roxas began, "he may not be your boyfriend now, but I'm sure will be. Do you like him?"
The blue-eyed brunette could not believe what he was hearing, advice from someone who did not even know him. "Not in that way."
"He means, not in that way... yet," Axel rephrased.
Sora was on the verge of wanting to hurt his roommate at his point. "No. I mean, not in that way, like I said it, no different."
"C'mon, I saw how he was looking at you. He likes you, and eventually, you'll like him back. I know it, I could tell by the way you were avoiding eye contact with him that you had some feelings for this guy, some affection," Axel told his roommate, sounding very serious.
Roxas nodded in agreement, he wanted to help his lover's roommate get together with this 'Riku'. "I remember when Axel and I first met, well... never mind, that was love at first sight," he claimed, giving Axel a wink.
"Don't you want a boyfriend, Sora?" Axel asked.
Riku awoke to the smell of his grandmother's waffles. He got out of his bed as if he were hypnotized by the scent of Rayne's cooking. As if floating up the steps, he made his way upstairs and into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Riku," Rayne said, cheerfully.
"Waffles..." Riku sighed; he loved his grandmother's waffles.
"Go get ready and by the time you're back down here, I'll have a plate ready for you," Rayne instructed.
Making his way into the bathroom, the green-eyed man stretched and let out a yawn. He was more tired than usual this morning and decided to take a cold shower this morning instead of his usual hot one. He disposed of his clothing and turned on the shower. Once he got inside, he stood still and let the cold water run down his bare spine. Within moments, he was out of the shower, dressed, and was brushing his long, silver hair.
Riku made his way back into the kitchen to see a stack of waffles sitting on table waiting for him.
"Thanks, Grandma," Riku said, appreciatively
Devouring his waffles, Riku looked up at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall and noted the time. It was seven o' clock now meaning that he still had some time before his first class, English.
"That was really good," Riku stated, getting up from the table. "I've got to go now, thanks for breakfast, Grandma."
With that, he left the kitchen, heading outside to his car. Riku got inside his car, noticing the emptiness of it. It had felt that way ever since he and April broke up. Normally, the blonde girl would walk to his house from her own and together they would drive to the college campus, but lately, he had no company when he drove to school. Even though he was gay, he had to admit, he had enjoyed April's company.
About fifteen minutes later, Riku was walking down the pathways of the large university. He was glad that more than half of the week had already passed and was excited about the following week being a Thanksgiving holiday. He was looking forward to the free time and hoping that Sora would not mind a few tutoring sessions during the break.
A tap on his shoulder caused Riku to turn around to see his best friend, Leon, standing there looking a bit uneasy.
"What's up, Squall?" Riku teased.
"It's Leon. I need to talk to you... now," Leon said, pulling Riku aside and giving him a look of uncertainty.
Riku eased up on Leon and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Well... I really like Ashy and I want to see her again..."
"Leon, chill out, what's wrong?" the silver-haired man questioned his closest friend.
Sighing, Leon put his hand behind his head in an embarrassed gesture. "Yesterday, Ashy and I went out for dinner... everything seemed to be going great and then my cell phone rings and..." The brunette let out another sigh as he looked down as his feet. "It was him."
Riku's eyes widened a tad, he knew exactly who Leon was referring to. Although Leon preferred females most of the time, he was indeed, bisexual and attracted to some guys. He also did not know that Riku was gay.
"Leon, while we are talking... I need to tell you something as well," Riku blurted out.
"Can it wait till science? I've got to get to class," Leon said, assuring Riku with a pat on his shoulder as he walked down the pathways to his class.
"Yeah... sure..." Riku said, leaving to go to his class as well.
Sora sat in the spacious history room copying notes off of the board. He had already been given an assignment for the holiday break the following week and only ten minutes of the class had passed. Don't you want a boyfriend, Sora? Axel's question had been running through his mind since he had left the dorm room after Roxas and Axel began to get a little to wild for his taste.
Did he want a boyfriend? The brunette could not help but wonder this as he turned the page in his notebook and started writing his assignment for the holidays. Sure, he did want a boyfriend, but Riku?
I haven't really given him much of a chance... maybe he is the right guy. Axel might be right... I mean, he must know something. After all, he does have Roxas and he seems so happy too... Damn it, Riku likes me. I just need to give him an opportunity to ask me out. I mean, he's not so bad... actually; he's sort of... no I can't say that...
Sora blinked, not realizing he had been in a daze for so long. The class was over and people were vacating the now almost empty classroom. The sapphire-eyed man stood and left the room, thoughts of Riku suddenly encircling his head.
How can I give him a chance? I don't even know how to handle these sorts of situations. If only...
As if on cue, April and Kairi waved at him from across the hallway, both of the girls had large grins on their faces.
"Sora! Come here," Kairi called, making a gesture with her hand.
The now curious brunette walked over to where the two females stood.
"Look, I've got to tell you something, April... about Riku," Sora started, deciding that now was a good time to tell her about Riku's so called 'other girlfriend.'
"Sora, I know. I just put you up to finding that entire out as a way to get you guys together," April said, nodding her head and not mentioning the part about Riku wanting her to do it.
Sora's mouth opened in shock, he had no clue. So, April did know that her ex-boyfriend was homosexual... wait, did he just use the word homosexual? Axel was slowly, but surely, beginning to rub off on him.
"We want to take you somewhere during lunch," Kairi said, still grinning.
"What? Where?" Sora asked, confused.
"You'll see," April said, winking at him.
The blonde and redhead walked off after that, leaving Sora somewhat worried about that day's lunch.
"So what did you want to tell me?" Squall Leonhart asked Riku once seated in the science classroom.
The silver haired man stared at his friend for a moment and then began telling him about how he was gay. He realized that the more people he told, the easier it was.
At first, Leon's eyes grew very wide, but when Riku told him about the past few days and April, his face seemed to relax a bit more.
After finding out that Riku had known his sexual preference for over seven years now, Leon said jokingly, "That explains a lot."
Riku rolled his eyes at his friend as the class settled down and finally began.
Professor Lombardi began to write an assignment on the board in the front of the room. The assignment was to explain evolution in a brief paper and it was due the following day. Riku took out a pen and some paper and began to work. For once, he wanted to get the assignment out of the way. He planned on having a tutoring session with Sora that evening and did not want his science work to get in the way of it.
"What do I do?" Leon asked, referring to the problem he had explained to his best friend earlier that day.
"Well, it was just one call, right?"
"He said he's going to come visit during the holidays... I can't do that, Riku. I mean, what if... it's been a long time," Leon whispered in return.
The green-eyed man continued to write as he said, "Leon, you'll have to make up your mind about who you prefer. I mean, if he really is coming back for that... then, go with what you truly want. But if Ashy means more to you than he does, I don't know... just do what your heart wants, what you want. I know you guys had a lot going on back in high school... and well, I don't really know what else to tell you but that."
Leon looked at his friend appreciatively. "... I won't ask you to bed him for me, then. I'll do him myself. You have your own problems with Sora," he said, leaving Riku to decipher the full meaning of his words.
Riku smirked at Leon's comment and continued to work on his paper, he wanted to complete it. The brunette turned his head and mimicked his friend's previous movements. Eventually, both of the men had finished their papers just in time as class ended.
"Guys, where are you taking me? Kairi, you better not be driving... I don't care how far away the place is, I'd rather drive or let April do it," Sora rambled on as Kairi and April took him outside and to the parking lot.
"I'm driving," April said, taking out the keys to her father's car. "I told you earlier, you'll see."
After struggling with him for a while, April and Kairi had finally gotten Sora into the car and were now driving down the road towards the secret destination.
"Why do I have to go anyway?" Sora asked finally.
"Because, we think this will help you out with Riku," Kairi said, deciding to tell the brunette the main motive for the trip.
Moments later, they arrived at the Twilight Mall. Sora groaned at the sight of the building and got out of the car.
"You brought me to a mall?" he asked, curious.
"Yes. We are going to help pick you get a whole new outfit and possibly a whole new wardrobe," April told him, the grin from earlier returning to her face.
Sora was so not looking forward to being pulled in and out of dressing rooms for the next hour.
Riku tossed away his lunch tray and headed towards his next class. He was hoping to scope out Sora before his lunch break ended. Instead, he found Professor Kravitz, who asked him to come with her into her classroom. Riku followed her into her classroom, even though he knew he would be there soon enough, considering calculus was his next class for the day.
"Riku, Sora tells me that the tutoring session seemed to help you a lot yesterday. Sora has scheduled another one but this time, he will be coming over to your house,' Professor Kravitz notified the tall, silver haired man.
Nodding, Riku asked, "Speaking of Sora, you haven't seen him around, have you?"
"No, not since this morning, sorry. I shall see you in a while," Professor Kravitz said, letting Riku go.
With that, Riku exited the classroom and headed off to try and find his crush. He hoped that somewhere inside the large university campus, the blue-eyed brunette would be around and hopefully he would catch him before his next class.
Author's Note: Like I said in the beginning, transition chapter, I know it was not the longest thing in the world, but I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions about characters, feel free to ask them in a review. I know this chapter ended in sort of a cliffhanger and I know how much you guys love them (being facetious here) so that's why I ended it as I did. I'm going to try and get the next chapter done within two weeks, I say that now... good luck to me. Anyway, I'll shut up and let you all read the GendenCo original, and this one is one of my personal favorites, enjoy!
-Trumpet fanfare-
GendenCo. presents...
Where's My Shoe!
Sora: Riku... uhm... do you know where my shoe is?
Riku: No... why? -stares 'lovingly' at Sora's... ...-
Sora: Well, as you can guess, I can't find it.
Riku: Which foot?
Sora: Right.
Riku: Tied or Velcro?
Sora: Slip on.
Riku: I see... -smirk-
Sora: ... Riku?
Riku: Well, I have a righty, I have string, and I have Velcro.
Sora: Wha?
Riku: I'll help you find it, Sora. It's probably under your bed somewhere... -pulls Sora into his room and locks door-
Sora: OO; YOU SAID YOU'D LOOK UNDER THE BED!
Riku: I said nothing of the kind! I suggested that it could be under your bed. Consider this as kind old me helping you find your shoe.
Sora: ... This has nothing to do with my feet, Riku.
Riku: Yeah. I know.
Sora: ...
Riku: -grin-
Read and Review! Feel free to leave April a review as well, her user is Ouin. Thanks!
