A/N: I don't know how many of you actually ready my author's notes, but that's beside the point. To the few of you who are reading this: thank you. Anyway…this is my favorite chapter out of the entire story (at least the part that is written), so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for all the wonderful comments I got from you all last chapter…they made my week. :)

Hats off to the fabulouso betas: Riku-stalker and Bubble Master Califa!


Crash

Sora bolted through the front door of his house, exactly ten minutes late. Please don't let my dad be here yet, Sora thought, setting his backpack down and slipping his sneakers off. He jogged into the kitchen and found his mother there, chopping up lettuce for a salad.

"You're late, Sora," She snapped in an anal voice. Sora rolled his eyes. His mother was normally friendly, if not a bit uncaring, but recently stress had made her into a monster. Too much work.

Caroline Atari was a beautiful woman; beautiful and rich. Her father had been a wealthy business owner—the owner of a law firm with a few of the top lawyers in the western half of the States. Through constant exposure to his business, Caroline took to receiving a major in law and from there became a lawyer. She had met Roy when they were opposing attorneys during a trial. Now, the husband and wife duo owned their own law firm still practicing themselves. When Caroline's father had passed away she had received full inheritance and put half of it away and the other half into their business. Sora had a good idea that this money was the only thing keeping the small firm on its feet at the moment.

While starting dinner, Caroline was still in her work outfit. Sora assumed she had been meeting with all sorts of larger firms' directors today, regardless of the fact that it was Saturday. Her long, dark hair was done up in a professional bun, a slender bamboo stick that was carved into a whimsical design keeping it in place, and her suit was pressed neatly. Her large blue eyes mirrored Sora's, but they had long lost their innocence and playful quality to them long ago. Caroline was not a playful person, and Sora didn't really think she ever had been. She had a slender frame with a thin waist, like Sora, and legs that seemed to go on forever, unlike her son. Caroline was almost taller than Roy. When relaxed, Caroline's face looked perhaps a bit frustrated, or annoyed, but her smile could light up the room just like her son's, although her smile was underused. Sora had once thought that her uncaring and short-tempered personality didn't fit her looks, then he promptly regretted the thought. Caroline was doing her best, along with Roy, to support the family.

Sora put on a smile, trying to ignore how tired he suddenly was, and offered to take over Caroline's job at the cutting board. She nodded without a smile and handed him the knife before going to stir the pasta.

"Fix a salad, Sora, and then heat up the sauce. Come get me and Roy when you're finished and have the table set. We'll be in our office," Caroline said on her way out of the kitchen. Sora nodded wordlessly, even though knowing that his mother couldn't see it. She knew he would do what she asked. With a sigh, Sora finished cutting up the lettuce and put it in a large bowl, adding the tomatoes and carrots his mother had already cut up. While performing the mundane tasks, his mind wandered to review his day.

While he loved running with every sore muscle in his body, Sora was glad the track meet was over. Next weekend, the team would be traveling to Traverse Town…but that was seven days away. He had other things to think about. Like his 'date' at the track tomorrow, with Riku.

He had absolutely no idea how Riku had come up with the idea to help Sora actually break one of his dad's still-standing records. It was insane, really. His record for the eight-hundred was seven seconds behind his father's record, which might not seem like much, but when you were out there, lungs screaming for air and muscles screaming in pain…seven seconds could very well be an hour. Truly, it was insane. The only reason Sora had agreed to do it, was because he would be doing it with Riku. Who was undeniably…well, hot. Casually sexy.

Sora had found that he wasn't really instantaneously attracted to different people. Maybe it was the insecurity or uncertainty he had developed over the years of living with his father that always made him want to really know the people before he even considered dating. It had been like that with Kairi, it had been that way with Nick—a sophomore who had moved away six months ago. But with that track record, Sora was a bit puzzled by his attraction to Riku, because…well, he didn't know Riku. And even without knowing him, Sora wasn't going to deny that he liked him. A lot.

Sora called his parents in from their office, and the three sat down around the large table.

"So, how was the track meet today, Roy?" Caroline asked in a pleasant voice. Sora started poking at his food. He hated it when his mother did that. She would never ask him about his day, but she always asked his father. Roy took a second to swallow before speaking, sending a glare at Sora.

"The meet went well, although Sora performed poorly. Absolutely failed his eight-hundred; the four-hundred isn't even worth mentioning," Roy said, still staring a hole through Sora's head, which was still down.

"Sora, don't play with your food," Caroline ordered. Sora's fork stopped pushing food around on the plate. "Eat, Sora," His mother snapped. Sora obeyed.

"Sora, you and I will have to have a talk after dinner. About your running today," Roy commented lightly, as if insinuating the two would actually sit down and talk. Sora squeezed his eyes shut for a moment while nodding, trying to stop his hands from trembling. He lifted a bit of salad to his mouth, his ears ringing with everything that went unsaid. God, he hated this family sometimes. His mother knew perfectly well what these 'talks' consisted of, Sora had told her once last year when Roy had almost broken his nose. She had made a light reply about how Roy was just trying to get him to work harder, and that Sora would be thankful for all of it in the end.

Now, Sora couldn't wait for the end to come, like…college. Or something. He had thought about telling someone—most likely Kairi, or Roxas, or even Cloud—but his father had looked him in the eye and told him that if Sora breathed a word of it to anyone, he would never run again. Which was a threat that kept Sora's mouth firmly shut. Running was what he lived for; there was no way he was going to jeopardize it.

"Sora, eat," Caroline commanded for the second time that evening.

"Listen to your mother, Sora. She knows best," Roy echoed. Sora sighed and started eating, hating both his parents more than he ever had at that moment, and feeling bad about it. You're not supposed to hate your parents, Sora told himself, they just want what's best for you. Uh huh…

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Kairi was still wrapped in Sephie's arms, their hips swaying in unison in time to the music, a happy drunken gaze in their eyes. Selphie had been watching Roxas for the better part of twenty minutes, a bit concerned about the redhead that was on top of him for most of the time. Finally Roxas pushed the taller kid off of him, whispering something in his ear, and the two stood up to stagger over to the crowd of dancing teens. Roxas immediately wrapped his arms around Axel, although Selphie wasn't sure if that was to keep him steady and standing, or because he was just really drunk. She didn't think he'd do it because he liked the redhead…because that was…absolutely ridiculous.

When Axel stumbled nearer to the pair of dancing girls, Selphie tried her best to twist her face into a glare. She didn't like the redhead…she was positive he was taking advantage of her friend. Axel seemed to catch her glance.

"Hey, it's the little mini-lezbos, one who has a very bad attitude right now," He commented with a crooked smile, his speech slightly slurred. Selphie narrowed her eyes, glancing down at Kairi who was oblivious to the redhead at the moment.

"Shut it Mr. I'm-so-fucking-sloshed-I-can-hardly-stand-up, or I'll let everyone know who molested little Roxas," She snapped. To her surprise Axel just laughed.

"Molested? You're out of your mind, kiddo," He said, sliding one hand to curve around Roxas's ass. The blond reached up, placing his mouth on Axel's collar bone, mouthing it slightly. Axel smirked at Selphie and dragged Roxas away. She didn't look at them long enough to see them leaving for a room upstairs.

"Everything okay, Selph?" Kairi spoke up, looking at the brunette. Selphie nodded.

"Let's go get another drink," She suggested, pulling the pink-haired girl with her out of the throng of dancers.

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Sora did the dishes quickly—like his mother told him to—and wiped down all the counters and the table before moving out of the kitchen to find his father. Roy came into the room with a smile on his face that caused Sora's hands to start wringing themselves nervously behind his back.

"We can talk in here, Sora, your mother is resting in the living room right now," Roy said, sitting down at the kitchen table. Sora didn't move, waiting for his father to start talking. After several seconds of silence in which fear began to creep through Sora, Roy opened his mouth. "Alright. Where to start? You already know you were a disappointment today, don't you?" His father asked. Sora stayed silent until Roy jumped up from the table. Roy's son backed up quickly, his back slamming into the wall behind him, and Roy advanced a bit. "Don't you?" He asked again, his voice louder. Sora gave a timid nod. "Tell me you understand you were a disappointment!" Roy yelled, his face inches from Sora's.

"I-I k-know I w-was a dis-disappointment," Sora stammered, looking his father right in the eye for fear of looking away and being hit. Roy seemed to relax a bit, moving back to sit on the table.

"Good," He praised. "Now, what do I have to do to make you run faster? We train enough, don't we? Do you expect me to start going with you whenever you run, Sora? I can't. My business is failing! I don't have time to spend every damn minute of the day running with you! You need to take some initiative here, Sora. Stop being such a god damn lazy kid, will you? I want you to do well when you're older, and you could be a great runner, but not if you walk everywhere!" Roy yelled. "Start running, Sora. I want you to put every once of energy you have into running this season, do you understand?" Sora nodded stiffly as his father kept talking. "No more spending free-time with friends until you can start winning at these meets, do you hear me? You don't have free-time until you can start running. Is that clear?" Roy said, anger making his voice tight. Retaliation was burning its way up Sora's throat, but he couldn't say anything. Instead, he just whispered a 'yes' when his father looked at him, waiting for an answer.

And then Roy was at Sora's side again, his fist slamming into the wall inches from Sora's trembling shoulder. The young teen winced and moved away before Roy grabbed him and threw Sora onto the floor, delivering a painfully strong kick to his son's stomach.

"You weren't home to help your mother start dinner because you were partying!" Roy yelled, his large fist connecting with Sora's left shoulder as Roy's other hand pinned down his son's right arm. "Sora, I gave you permission to go, as long as you were home by six. Were you even listening to me when I told you that?" Sora nodded.

"Dad, the ferry left ten minutes late…I couldn't have done anything!" Sora cried out, the lie slipping through his teeth easily. There was no way in hell Roy was going to find out what he had really been doing. A hit to his stomach fully winded him, but his father's bruising grip on his arm wouldn't relent. "Please, I'm sorry. It won't happen again…stop, dad, stop!" Sora cried, struggling to get away as tears of pain spilled down his cheeks.

"SORA!" His father boomed, stilling the boy instantaneously, fear turning the young runner's blue eyes stormy. "We're running tomorrow; two hours. Be up at seven. I will not tolerate you being late."

"I h-have a ton of homework tomorrow, dad, I d-don't have t-time," Sora protested out of necessity. He did have homework. His father's iron grip loosened around his arm and Sora pushed himself up only to be grabbed by his father again, the man's strong hands squeezing his shoulders.

"Be up at seven. We'll be running for two and a half hours. Do your homework tonight," Roy snarled in dangerously low tones.

"B-but—" Roy grabbed the front of Sora's shirt, rage and frustration consuming him, and threw his son into the kitchen table.

Sora felt his chest and upper arm hit a chair, and then his head slam into the edge of the table. His world blinked black for a moment before Sora opened his eyes to see he was alone in the kitchen, and lying on the floor in a crumpled heap of bony limbs. He couldn't tell if he had passed out, or just closed his eyes for a moment, but his father wasn't there…and that was all he cared about right then. His conversation with his father had Sora rising to his feet—he had homework to do.

While walking up the stairs Sora's limbs felt sluggish, and his head felt like a brick. His small hand gripped the railing hard enough to turn his knuckles white, fighting off dizzy spells and waves of nausea. It didn't look like he was going to be able to do homework tonight.

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Tifa and Rikku spent several hours plotting 'operation: Zemyx', although they both agreed that they would have to wait to do anything until Demyx and Zexion kind-of realized the attraction between them. Plus, there were the two boy's ridiculously busy schedules to work around.

"We'll figure something out, Tif," Rikku assured her new friend with a yawn. She looked at her wrist watch, raising her eyebrows when she realized it was almost five in the morning. "Oh, how the hell did it get to be four thirty in the morning?" She moaned. "Am I supposed to swim home?" She exclaimed with a small chuckled. Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Naw, crash at my place. I'm just down the road, we can walk," Tifa offered.

"Sounds good….but first…I think we need to leave a bit of a mess for Riku," She added with a cheeky smile. Tifa smirked and headed out of the room, waving for Rikku to follow her.

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A shrill alarm broke Sora's sleep, which had been bordering on a deeper kind of unconsciousness. Sora swore loudly before slamming a fist on his alarm clock and knocking it to the floor, his ears ringing painfully with the loud noise. I swear it wasn't that loud yesterday. Under his father's threat, Sora sat up in bed, noticing he hadn't even changed into pajamas last night.

As Sora stepped out of bed and shuffled over to his dresser, his stomach heaved, dizziness exploding in his head. With frantic, off-balance steps Sora careened into his bathroom and grabbed the rim of the toilet just in time to heave up the meager dinner and lunch he had eaten yesterday. Thirty seconds later he was left with a horribly acidic taste in his mouth, a horribly acidic smell in his nose, and a horribly acidic feeling in his stomach, which was still having spasms. And all he could think of was that he had approximately twenty minutes to get ready for a two-and-a-half hour run. With his dad.

Sora got to his feet on shaky legs and rinsed his mouth out in the sink, reaching to turn on the light as he did so. The brunette glanced at his reflection in the mirror, grimacing at the bruises he could see on his upper arms, just below the sleeve of his shirt. It would definitely be a week for long-sleeve shirts.

After rinsing his mouth out with about a gallon of mouthwash in an effort to get the acrid taste of vomit out of his mouth, Sora shuffled back into his room, his stomach still feeling like it was about to remove any other substances in it. Without changing into his running shorts, Sora walked out in the hall, wincing at the bright sunlight streaming through the large windows. His head started throbbing all over again. Knocking lightly on his parent's bedroom door, Sora called for his father. Roy appeared at the door, his eyes flicking over his son's appearance. Sora was pale, his arms bruised, and his hair messier than normal with a thin line of sweat on his forehead. His clothes were rumpled and creased, and he didn't appear to be steady on his feet. Roy looked his son in the eye and raised his eyebrows.

"Uh…dad, I'm really sick, I think. I can't run today, I'm really sorry! I really need to get better for practice tomorrow, you know?" Sora said, words and excuses tumbling from his mouth in rapid succession. Roy's face tensed for a moment before relaxing again, and he stepped into the hall and shut the door to his room quietly behind him.

"Sora, you didn't mention you weren't feeling well last night," He said quietly. Sora took a step away from him, extending one hand behind him to grip the railing as another dizzy spell hit him.

"I was fine last night."

"Your mother and I will be going out in a bit then, and I'll have a list of chores for you to do. After that, you can take the day to rest. But Sora, you are not to see anyone today, is that clear?" Sora felt the sharp and all-too-familiar sting of his father's hand on his cheek, forcing his head to jerk to the right. The teen brought his hand up to his cheek, trying to rub the sting out of it as he looked back up at his father and nodded. He was never allowed to see people after his father had bruised him, in case someone became suspicious. He'd have to call Riku and cancel their four o'clock meeting, not to mention he couldn't run today anyway.

"I understand, father," Sora whispered.

"Good. Your mother and I will be back late tonight, but we'll be running tomorrow, extra long to make up for today." With that, Roy turned away from his son and went back into his room. Sora waved slightly to his mother who was sitting up in bed now, obviously awake. She gave him a small smile before turning to her husband and greeting him with a slow kiss. Sora turned away from them and went back into his room, dragging the trashcan over to his bed just in case his stomach decided to throw up anything left before he climbed into bed and lay down with a sigh. Today was going to suck.

With another sigh he reached for his cell phone on his nightstand and dragged Riku's number out from his pant's pocket. After dialing Sora pressed the phone to his ear and waited, cringing a bit at the loud rings projecting from the phone.

"Hello?" Riku's voice said.

"Oh, hi Riku. This is Sora. Hope this isn't too early to call."

"Hey Sora! I needed to wake up early today anyway. So, we can meet today, right?" Riku asked. Sora sighed.

"Um, actually, I got really sick today, and I can hardly stand up, let alone run. I'm really, really sorry, Riku."

"Damn. But are you okay?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just really sick and tired and stuff," Sora answered.

"Do you want me to come over sometime today? I'm gonna be over there visiting my mom at one, but I could come over a bit before that," Riku offered. Sora smiled, really wanting to see Riku today. 'Course, he wasn't allowed to see anyone today, but his dad wasn't home anyway. It was worth the risk.

"I'd love it if you came over, but I don't want you to get sick too," Sora said.

"Don't worry 'bout it. I'll be over at noon; that okay?" Riku asked.

"That's fine."

"Do you want me to bring you anything from town?"

"Don't go through the trouble, Riku. I'll be fine. Thanks though," Sora said shyly.

"Okay, I'll see you in…five hours. I'll call you when I'm off the ferry so you can tell me where your place is. I have your home phone number. Can't wait, kiddo!"

"Hey!" Sora protested, scowling at being called 'kiddo'. Riku wasn't that much older than him.

"See ya," Riku said, just before hanging up. Sora set his phone down next to him on the bed and laid back, intent on going back to sleep.

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"Riku, what happened to you, man?" The named teen spun around, his silver hair flipping in front of his face for a moment.

"What?" He asked incredulously, pulling a different shirt over his head.

"You're Riku, normally you find someone, fuck 'em, and ditch 'em. I don't think you've ever done this," Axel pointed out, watching his friend dash around his house which was still a mess from the party last night. "Hey, do you have anything for a headache?" Axel asked suddenly.

"Bathroom cabinet. Look there. What do mean by 'this'?" Riku asked, stopping halfway down the hall to look at his friend.

"You're acting attached to this kid."

"Oh, that. You know…Sora's really different. I don't really know what it is about him that I'm so damn attracted to, but it's something. I really actually like him, you know, like, as a person. Not as something to fuck and throw away," Riku said slowly, as if spelling his own thoughts out to himself as well as to Axel. The redhead snickered a bit at the far-away look on Riku's face before standing up and shuffling into the bathroom, looking for some Tylenol. He heard Riku yell something to him about Roxas.

"What was that?" Axel said after going back into the hall, swallowing three pills with a glass of water.

"I said, what about you and Roxas? Are you done with him? Or…is he special too?" Riku teased lightly, falling back onto the couch in the living room. Axel shrugged.

"He's not special, Riku. I'm not a softy like you, ya know," Axel commented. "But actually, I'm not done with him. He's too good of a kisser, which is more than you can say for Mini I'm sure."

"I really wouldn't know. As much as I felt like ravishing him last night in the car…he sort of kissed me, and then ran off to the ferry," Riku said.

"Wait…you said that you actually did kiss him?" Axel said, making his way into the kitchen to get some coffee.

"No. He kissed me. You know, I can't figure him out. One minute he's as shy as hell, the next he's having a breakdown, the next he's all sexy and confident, and the next he's…well, kissing me. Sora's confusing," Riku said, following the senior into the kitchen.

"Breakdown? What's with the sophomores at Destiny High and breakdowns? Seriously, Roxas has some serious shit in his past," Axel commented. "Actually, the only reason he told me was 'cause he was completely wasted, but still." Riku looked at his friend in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Ax?"

"I'm talking about Roxas, you idiot. I don't know what's up with Mini, but Roxas was a pretty fucked up kid back in…eighth grade, I think. Coke addict, hung out with these dick—"

"Wait wait wait," Riku held up a hand to stop Axel. "You said that Roxas was a coke addict in eight-fucking-grade? Are you fucking screwing around with me?"

"No way, man. Guess his dad was never home, divorce or something. Then that coach Cloud showed up."

"Yeah, I heard they were brothers," Riku said, pulling out two bagels and shoving them in the toaster.

"So, what's with Sora then?" Axel asked, grimacing at the taste of his black coffee. Riku raised an eyebrow, but Axel just shook his head. He couldn't go home with a hangover. As Riku watched their bagels rotating in the toaster oven, he started talking.

"I think Sora's just having issues with his bastard of a father right now. That Roy Atari. He sounds like a pretty hard-core guy; has all these expectations for Sora. You know how much I hate that man, Axel? He is a complete dick. I mean, I overheard him talking to Sora, and he was completely bashing the kid. And then he comes around the corner and starts praising me and everything, and talking about how poorly Sora ran, when he knew Sora could hear him!" Riku vented, running his hands through his silky hair in frustration. "It's fucking verbal abuse, Axel! But I go back there, to where Sora is, and the kid's completely destroyed. He was sobbing, because of that bastard!"

"Riku, cool off, man. You don't even know the guy. Maybe Sora's dad was just having a bad day, you never know," Axel said. Riku glared at the bagels, not looking up at his friend.

"No. Sora says his dad does that all the time. He really looks up to his dad, I think, but his dad has absolutely no respect for him. Seriously Ax, Roy Atari is verbally abusing his son," Riku stated with absolute certainty. Axel rolled his eyes.

"Riku, I don't know. How do you know Sora was even telling the truth when he said it happened all the time? I mean, he might have just been really worked up and was really mad at his dad," Axel suggested. Riku spun around.

"NO Axel! Sora was fucking crying his heart out in my arms! You don't lie when you're in that sort of situation. You just DON'T! The first time I met him he had just been talking to Roy, and he's all depressed. And then the second time I talk to him, he's crying behind the school, right after talking with his dad. And then last night, we're up in my room and he's all smiling, and then I ask if he runs with his dad, and he's back to being depressed, and then he's ranting and crying! He wasn't fucking lying about any of it!" Riku raged, his eyes sparking with anger. Axel held up his hands, coffee cup still held by his left.

"Chill, Riku, chill. I know you're pissed off about this and everything, but you can't do anything about it."

"I know," Riku said, his voice considerably softer. "I just want to be there for him, I guess. I know he's got Roxas, and Cloud, but…I want to be there too."

"You're such a sap, Riku. What am I going to do with you?" Axel joked. "But seriously, what about talking to Zexion about it? He might know something about this…I mean, he—"

"Zex's dad physically abused him, Axel. I don't think Sora's dad would go that far," Riku said, grabbing some cream cheese from the fridge and spreading it on the bagels.

"You should call him sometime today when you get back. He might know something, you never know," Axel suggested, taking the bagel offered to him. Riku just sighed and sat down on the counter, staring at the floor. "Dude, we don't need another emo kid around here. Zexion's enough. Don't get so tied up with the whole Sora thing. Just go visit him today, say hi to your mom, give Roxas my number—'cause I forgot last night—and come back here to talk to Zex. No big deal."

"You're right Ax. We're going to clean this place up though, first. Help me," Riku commanded, shoving the rest of the bagel in his mouth and jumping off the counter. He could hear Axel swearing behind him as the two walked into the living room and started righting all the tipped furniture and grabbing the trash off the floor. "So…you see Leon last night?" Riku asked as him and Axel righted the loveseat. Axel shook his head. "He was all over that Cloud guy, Roxas's bro? I've never actually seen Leon be that…social before."

"Social? Does that involve his tongue down the poor guy's throat?" Axel asked with a smirk.

"Poor guy? Are you kidding? I wouldn't mind at all if Leon wanted to shove his tongue down my throat," Riku said, prompting a bout of laughter from Axel.

"That's the Riku I know!"

"Not to say I'd want Sora's tongue down my throat any less."

"Whatever, Riku. You're a fucking lovesick puppy."

"Bitch!"

"Did you just call me a bitch?"

"How about bastard?"

"Much better."

"Only you, Axel, only you."


Hope you enjoyed this! There's a bit of everything in this chapter…maybe that's why I like it so much.

I'd LOVE and ADORE to hear from you guys. Please comment.

Wykkyd