Summary: Lea knew his small mannerisms and knew what type of coffee he ordered every day. But he didn't know his name. They would soon learn the art of slowly falling in love even if it was wrong. Lea/Riku coffee shop AU

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts! I also don't own Frank Sinatra's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". I love the way he sings though.

A.N.: I guess I can't wait for Christmas or something, since I'm writing about it. Weiiiird. Merry Christmas everybody. (Too early for that, right? Haha)


A couple of weeks rolled by before it was finally Christmas and Lea was the equivalent of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Even though he accepted his fate, Lea still didn't enjoy working on Christmas. He glanced around the café, no more than two couples sitting at tables drinking their coffees now so they can go out later. The only positive side was he could close earlier today...

Only to go back to his home where he would be spending Christmas by himself. Lea sighed, counting off his options with the fingers on his hand. Naminé was likely spending Christmas with her family. He also discovered this past week that his own mother and father were going on a trip for their honeymoon, which fell along the week of Christmas. At least he was going to receive presents through the mail.

It was depressing to say the least. Lea's mind trailed to more positive thoughts. At least Riku was going to finally be with Sora alone on this romantic holiday!

But this only reminded Lea that he was even more alone.

"Man, I really need to get outside," Lea muttered to himself. He glanced at the clock, deciding to close down in less than an hour's worth of time. He would leave at five o' clock, take half an hour to close up and clean since he didn't have help, and that would leave him some time to stroll through town.

Even if he would be alone, it would still be healthy to get outside.

By six o' clock, it was already becoming dark. This time, Lea prepared himself with a sweater underneath his jacket that actually had a hood to protect his ears from the cold. He shoved his gloved hands inside his pockets and walked past his parked car to explore his small town.

Most of the shops were closed on the holidays. The inside of the small buildings were completely black with capitalized signs hung on the doors that said "CLOSED". Lea strolled along this empty street, save for some cars that were parked and streetlights that were decorated with Christmas lights and wreaths.

Lea even spotted the occasional couple that walked by, happily smiling at each other as if there were no troubles in the world. He sighed, wishing he was holding someone's hand in this brisk cold. If it was anybody's hand, he wished it would be Riku's.

Riku. Lea wondered how the silver haired male was doing. The days following up to Christmas, he hadn't been making the occasional stop at the coffee shop. Lea blamed Riku's disappearance on himself. If he hadn't kept his mouth shut that day, then he wouldn't have discouraged the shorter male from coming.

Lea stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, glancing at the time on his phone. It was probable that Riku was dining at the restaurant now. "Maybe I could...?"

The great weight of a decision befell the redhead. It wasn't in his place to visit the male during his date, but maybe Lea could see how content Riku was. It would make him enjoy Christmas at least a little if he saw a smile on Riku's face. Lea finally decided he would only sneak a peek from the outside of the restaurant. This way, he wouldn't interrupt their date or make himself known.

Eventually, as he walked to the outside of the restaurant, Lea felt a small, cold drop on his cheek. He looked up only to discover the first flakes of snow fall from the sky.

"I guess it's a white Christmas. How romantic for them," Lea softly sighed, tucking his chin into the warmth of his jacket collar. This looked like it was going to be the perfect weather to cuddle up near the fireplace right after dinner. Lea wondered vaguely if Riku was the type of guy to do that and as a result, he blushed.

Yeah, Riku seemed like the type to like innocent gestures like that. The customer would most likely get embarrassed similar to himself. They would just lay on the couch with Riku cuddled into his chest or even vice versa, enjoying each other's company in the silence.

Lea shook these silly imaginations from his head. He shouldn't be thinking like that. See, there Riku was sitting at a seat that the redhead could see through the window...

By himself?

Lea denied the truth that was sitting right in front of him. Riku wasn't by himself, right? Sora was just taking a short bathroom break while the silverette was pouring himself some bottled drink into a wine glass...

Right?

Dread swept through Lea as he stood there for a couple of minutes and there was no sign of Sora. He stared and stared as time rolled by, the snow falling steadily into the ground. Riku's glass was now one fourth full due to several sips and he was now pouring some more into his glass.

As Riku's form hunched and his head buried into his hand, Lea strode into the restaurant on impulse. The soft, slow song of "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas" played as background noise. The clinks of plates and quiet chatter filled the restaurant.

"Sir, table for...?" a waitress said as she tended to him.

"A table is already reserved for me. I'm with someone here," Lea lied, hoping that would pass as an explanation.

"And the party's name...?"

"...Riku," he hesitated giving as an answer. Lea patiently waited, hoping that Riku made a reservation here under his name. Luckily for Lea, Riku did use his name.

"Ah, yes, here it is. Right this way," she chimed, her fingertip stopping against a list of names. She led Lea to the table he had seen through the window, secluded in the corner with only the silverette. The waitress took her leave presumably to continue her job. Lea breathed before finally settling in the seat across from Riku. He coughed to get the other's attention, causing Riku to lift his head up slowly.

"Oh, heyyy," Riku dragged out with a smile, something so drastically different from what Lea had seen.

"How are you doing?" Lea asked as he scanned over Riku's expression. His cheeks were lightly tinted pink and he noted the glassy look to his cyan eyes.

The silverette somehow found something hilarious with Lea's question and burst out in laughter. Lea raised a concerned eyebrow as he grabbed for the bottle next to Riku's wine glass. "I'm just here waiting...you know. For my date."

"How long have you been waiting?" Lea asked as he inspected the contents on the bottle. His eyes moved back and forth as he read.

"Oh, I don't know..." Riku drawled in a bored tone, slumping slowly in his seat. "Maybe an hour or so." He reached for the bottle in Lea's hand even if the wine glass was still somewhat full and took a long sip.

"Riku, I don't think you should drink any more rum," Lea said as he yanked the bottle straight from Riku's mouth. The bottle left the silverette's lips with an audible pop. "Are you even old enough?"

"But, it's banana flavored," he whined softly with a pout, reaching for the next best thing, his wine glass. "I'm nineteen, but being engaged makes me practically twenty one," he argued unintelligibly, lifting the glass to his lips.

"I think you're drunk AND underaged," the redhead sighed, grabbing for Riku's glass, setting it on the table. He dragged him up with little trouble. "I'm taking you home."

"But there's no one to go home to," Riku continued whining, pounding his fist lightly into Lea's shoulder. "Please, take me with you."

Lea took the light punches only becoming more concerned with this situation. Lea stared into Riku's begging teal eyes. This was a difficult predicament. He couldn't just leave Riku by himself to drink in depression. Where would he go once he finished his business here? He didn't know, however, if he was capable enough to take care of the silverette in his state.

Well...he had to try. Lea just had to hope that Riku wasn't one of those crazy, stupid drunks.

"Fine," Lea conceded. He put an arm around Riku's waist as a precaution in case he fell over. "Let's go."


To gaara'sGurl101: I see what you mean. In a way, Naminé is making Riku more depressed. Also it looks like she and Riku are similar in their morals. The only difference between them is that Lea is more likely to change Riku's mind than Naminé's. Who could resist that cutie?

To AuroraNyumun: Sora's so ruuuude, how dare he. Riku should just marry Lea instead. He would be a lot happier that way, but damn, is it hard to break away from your first love. And please send me an example of that in a PM, I am so curious! DiZ and Axel, I'm so...confused! I demand evidence! Haha, no I definitely believe you. But, I still want to see this craziness!

To Ignie: Haha! Sora is a...-whisper- a total douche. I agree with Lea kissing the Riku, because he would be so much better at kissing the Riku. So, hah, screw you Sora! -lifts up middle fingers- I mean...you still have a place in my heart Sora. Xd