In January, things started to go back to normal. Everyone returned from their vacations and went back to work and school. Roxas fell back into routine as if the whole event with his family hadn't even happened.
With the new year came new experiences. Roxas started his first class on campus and Kairi and Namine were talking about moving out of their parents' place. They were the only ones out of the group who still lived with family but they were also the youngest: Namine at twenty and Kairi at twenty-one.
Roxas' favorite time of day was visiting Sora at Hiss. He also continued to spend an inordinate amount of time at their apartment. He'd spent more than one night crashing on their couch. Pretty early in the new year, the group had their first get-together in months.
They went to Kairi's place as a final goodbye to the home they had enjoyed over the years. Roxas smiled as he sat on the couch. He could very clearly remember sitting here on the floor when he first met Riku during that stupid movie marathon. He remembered the taste of popcorn, nearly choking on soda in laughter, his mouth being sore from smiling so much, and how good it felt to be sitting side by side with the silver-haired stranger- their arms brushing up against each other as their shared their snacks.
It seemed so long ago…like he was a completely different person back then. Who knew the boy back then teasing about pop quizzes on a movie would become his irreplaceable best friend? When had Hayner stopped being his best friend? Or…was it Roxas who had stopped being best friends with Hayner?
"Hey," Riku interrupted his thoughts sitting on the arm on the couch next to him, "Remembering the good times?" He asked smirking. Roxas didn't know what Riku was referring to exactly. They had spent a lot of time here hanging out with the group since it was bigger than anyone's apartment.
Roxas suddenly remembered the party they had here. The party where Sora and Riku kissed during a game of spin the bottle. The night that Roxas discovered Riku, not only also liked boys, but was in love with Sora.
Riku was odd. He continually pushed Roxas at Sora and he genuinely seemed like he wished the best for them but certainly he also thought about having Sora for himself. Sora and Riku seemed like the perfect couple. They've known each other forever, even their families are friends and would undoubtedly support their coupling. They were best friends, they lived together in harmony, they were probably attracted to each other.
Then again maybe not. Roxas didn't see that kiss- maybe it was nothing. Besides, neither of them pushed it further so maybe there wasn't any sexual attraction there…
"Yo Rox. You okay? You kinda fazed out on me there."
Roxas was about to reply to Riku (who he had forgotten was there) when Hayner entered.
"Rox man! How was Christmas?"
Roxas allowed himself to be pulled up and into a one-armed guy hug. "Good. You?"
"Crazy. You know how my brothers are. Can you believe Namine's moving in with me?"
"She is?"
"Yeah." Hayner looked nervous but excited.
"What about Pence?" Pence was Hayner's roomate.
"Getting a place with Kairi and Olette." That made Roxas raise an eyebrow. What exactly was going on with those three?
"You excited?"
Hayner fluffed his hair sheepishly, "Yeah…"
Kairi and Namine emerged from upstairs sniffling and holding onto each other. Roxas smiled remembering how he felt when he left his childhood home to live by himself for the first time. Certainly not that emotional, but he could understand, especially since the sisters were going to be living separately for the first time.
They all spent the afternoon chatting, playing games and watching movies. Just a relaxing evening with friends and a fitting goodbye to the well-loved home.
Roxas was on his way off campus after his first live college class. It was English. He liked his teacher but was somewhat intimidated by his classmates. He just really hoped there would be no group projects. He'd have to get used to the stupid daily journal his teacher wanted him to keep too. His phone started buzzing in his pocket interrupting his train of thought. He shuffled his notebooks in his arms so he could reach into his pocket to retrieve it.
"What did you tell Sora?!" These were the first words to come across the line when Roxas picked up the call. He was immediately off-put by Riku's accusatory voice and went into defensive mode.
"Nothing. What's your problem?'
"You didn't say anything to Sora about me?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Sora started asking me all these weird questions about my sexuality suddenly."
"I didn't say anything to him. I swear." Though Riku wasn't there to see it, he held up his hand in a promise salute.
"Okay….sorry."
"What's up with Sora?"
"He just suddenly asked me if I liked boys then when I told him 'no' he called me a liar and locked himself in his room. He won't come out and he won't talk to me at all!" Riku's voice was bordering on panic.
"Calm down, Riku."
"Will you come talk to him?"
"Of course. I'll be there in…" Roxas looked up to see the trolley approaching and he took off running towards it. He jumped onto the back just in time, "ten minutes." He finished trying to catch his breath.
When he arrived, Roxas knocked gently on the door to Sora's bedroom while Riku waited in the kitchen.
"It's Roxas. Can I come in?"
There was no answer for a long time. Long enough for Roxas to wonder if Sora had even heard him. Maybe he was napping or something.
"Did Riku tell you to come here?" Sora's voice finally answered from the other side of the door.
Roxas decided to lie based on the tone of voice, "No, I just came over to see you when Riku told me you weren't coming out of your room."
There was a long pause, some shuffling, and after forever the door opened just enough for Roxas to slip through. Sora locked it behind him and Roxas was instantly struck with the idea that he was alone in a locked bedroom with Sora. He shook his head to rid himself of dirty thoughts and observed his surrounding.
The room was quite fitting for Sora. The walls were dark grey with white clouds. The carpet was also gray and near everything else was red. He had a small circular window around which was painted the sun. Energetic, childish and….messy. Just like Sora.
"You and Riku have similar tastes." Roxas commented remembering the older boy's room done like the night sky. Sora tensed at the mention of Riku and mumbled something under his breath Roxas couldn't catch but his anger quickly melted away as he observed his walls.
"We used to go to this cave as kids. It had this big mural of the sky. At night there were stars that would glow in the dark. In the morning when the light seeped through it illuminated this little circular hole in the wall and you could see the cave walls were covered in clouds." Sora smiled thinking about it with a faraway look in his eyes, "One day, the tides rose during rainy season; flooded the cave. When we went back, the designs were washed away as if they had never been there."
"That's…kind of sad." Roxas admitted.
Sora returned to the present with a smile, "So we got Namine's help to replicate the effect in our bedrooms."
Roxas took a moment to appreciate the work before getting to the point, "So, why are you locked in your room?"
Sora sighed and took a seat on his bed, "I don't like it when Riku lies to me." Sora eyes, full of watery betrayal met Roxas' "It hurts that you're keeping it from me too."
Again, Roxas found himself being accused of something he didn't understand. He tried not to get mad this time. "What're you talking about?"
Sora started kicking his feet, "I'm not an idiot Roxas. I see the way you two look at each other. I know you two are dating. I just...don't know why you would hide it from me."
Roxas tried to keep from smiling but Sora was so childish sometimes it was hard to take him seriously, "Sora," He waited for those blue eyes to meet his again before continuing, "I'm not dating Riku."
Sora glared and opened his mouth to speak but Roxas interrupted, "And I'm not lying." He said before he could be accused. Sora's mouth snapped shut as if that was exactly what he was going to say. He pouted at his feet. Roxas took his face in his hands and tilted his chin up to look him in the eyes. "I swear I'm not lying." He promised sincerely.
"There's nothing between you and Riku?" Sora still didn't believe him.
"He's just my best friend."
Sora huffed and looked at the wall as he took in this information.
Roxas dropped Sora's face and looked around the room.
"It's really odd." He noted more to himself than anyone, "People keep assuming that about us."
"Well, it really does seem like it….are you sure there shouldn't be something between you two?"
Roxas felt his heart in his throat, "What do you mean?"
"Well, if people keep saying it- they're probably right. They're probably just seeing something you aren't. I mean you always come over to see him. The two of you are always doing stuff together and…I noticed on Thanksgiving." That accusatory tone was back, "When Riku pulled you into his room."
Roxas sighed, "I come here to see you." He admitted making Sora look up at him in surprise, "If you think it's obvious I enjoy spending time with Riku, it should be doubly-obvious about you. I visit you at work daily even though I don't really like coffee that much. I don't even know where Riku works. Half the time I'm hanging out with Riku, we're talking about you."
Sora cleared his throat and scratched at the back of his neck, "Um, what are you saying exactly?"
Roxas' heart was going a mile a minute but there was no way he was going to stop now. "I thought it was obvious. I really like you Sora."
"Oh." Sora's face was red, "Really?" There was a smile hiding on his face, about to break loose.
"Yeah." Roxas said unable to stop his own smile.
When they left Sora's room, they were holding hands. Riku glanced over at them and smiled as his eyes landed on the entwined fingers. Roxas felt like maybe the smile didn't reach his eyes, maybe there was a hint of sadness in it, and his guilt overwhelmed the happiness he had been feeling moments ago.