Notes: So, I was posting every weekend but my schedule is little messed up now so I'll just be posting randomly :P

Pairings: Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas, Kairi/?

Warnings: Sexual themes, Male/Male relationships, language

Ch. 10 Wednesday

It didn't take long for people to catch up on the news of Kairi not only being single but being for the first time ever unclaimed by Riku or Sora. Kairi was sent various notes during her classes and was on the receiving end of a few winks. The attention made her twitter nervously but it also was kind of exciting.

Sora spent Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday in a state of mild panic. Things were nice with Riku the way the were now. He felt like if they went on a date then they'd have to define things and if they defined things then everything would suddenly become awkward. He regretted asking Riku out. He wanted things to remain the way they were just a little longer. He loved their current state of casually sharing kissing and holding hands.

He knew it was inevitable though. Their friends were already starting to ask questions about the nature of their relationship. Sora could tell it made Riku nervous and he couldn't blame him. Just a few days ago, Riku thought he was straight. His world was changing pretty rapidly.

Sora was staring to feel like this date was doomed to fail. He didn't know what to do. He had finally gotten Riku. He wasn't willing to lose him so soon by scaring him off with relationship business.

He groaned and plopped down on his bed with his hands over his face. Where was he even supposed to take Riku? What were they supposed to do?

How would he avoid awkward silences? What if something went wrong?

Sora took a deep breath. He was better than this. He was always good at keeping conversation going and he had always gotten along well with Riku.

He was just a little nervous.

Sora got up from his bed and clambered downstairs to find his mom.

"Oh, good timing sweetie. Dinner's almost ready." Sora's mom, Norah, was setting the table, "I was about to call you down."

Sora nodded and sat down while his mother finished setting everything out, "…Mom?"

Being privy to her son's moods, Norah could sense that he wanted to speak. She sat down across from him and gave him her full attention, "Yes dear?"

"I…" He found it difficult to voice what he wanted to tell her without sounding lame.

She watched him patiently.

"I've kind of started seeing someone."

Norah's eyes widened slightly and a smile graced her lips. That explained Sora's recent behavior. It hadn't passed his mom's notice that he had been spending a lot of time daydreaming, humming, and mumbling to himself. Not that this took a special mother-skill to notice. He wasn't exactly subtle. The other day he had nearly left for school without his shoes and just that morning he had tripped down the stairs. She knew his absentmindedness meant something big was happening in his life but she trusted her son to come to her when he was ready to talk about it.

"That's great sweetie. Anyone I know?"

"Yes, actually." This was the hard part. Sora blushed, "Riku."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened more and her hand flew to her mouth, "Wow. When….?"

"Ah," Sora smiled, "We haven't gone on a date yet. It just recently happened. I haven't been sneaking behind your back with him or anything."

Norah smiled, "Of course not dear."

Sora laughed, "Well, I'm taking him out tomorrow. Just thought you'd like to know."

"That's great sweetie. It really is."

"You sure you're okay with it?"

"Of course! I just wasn't expecting… I mean Riku's been your friend for so long I didn't think you two would look at each other that way. But really, it's great. Who better to fall in love with than your best friend?" She smiled and started serving dinner, "Now, tell me about it."

Sora couldn't help the goofy smile he got every time he thought about Riku as he started telling his mom an abbreviated version of what had happened.

Sora hummed as he swung his hand entwined with Riku's between them.

Riku chuckled, "You seem like you're in a good mood."

They were walking hand-in-hand to town for their date.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Sora answered in a sing-song voice.

Riku shrugged having a harder time hiding his nervousness that the brunet was, "Sooooo…where are we going?" Riku had to admit it was weird being taken on a date instead of being the one taking his date out. It was generally the man's job to plan and pay for the date but in a relationship with two boys whose shoulders was that supposed to fall on? Sora had taken the initiative which was great but he was starting to feel like a girl. Then again, Kairi had been the one to ask him out as well. He had to smile at the thought.

"Din-ner." Sora teased.

Riku bumped their hands into Sora's side playfully, "Where?"

"Somewhere." Sora was downright giddy.

"Do you even know?"

"Of course I know! What kind of boyf-" He froze his eyes widening. His mind screaming: 'Damn! Backpedal! Backpedal! Damage control!' He didn't know if Riku was ready to consider them in a relationship yet. He didn't want to scare him off.

Riku smiled significantly calmed to know he wasn't the only nervous one. He squeezed Sora's hand and attempted to break the tension by changing the subject, "Okay, I'll let you surprise me. So, I saw a trailer for a new Indiana Jones movie."

"I know!" Sora brightened instantly, "I'm so excited! That Squall Leonhart! Man!"

"Don't tell me. Another celebrity crush?"

Sora laughed and started to answer in the negative when Riku interrupted, "You know, I'm starting to get the feeling you have a leather fetish."

Sora blushed, "Uh…not really…I mean."

"Whips…" Riku muttered thoughtfully, "They both have whips."

"As weapons. Not for anything…sexual." Sora was bright red.

Riku laughed, "Suuuuure."

Sora was flustered but, to Riku's disappointment, he suddenly collected himself. He stopped walking and moved so he was standing in front of Riku.

"Close your eyes." He urged.

Riku obliged a little hesitantly.

"Okay." Sora said and Riku had to smile because he could hear the grin in his friend's voice. Suddenly Riku was being tugged along in complete darkness. He was tempted to open his eyes and peek but resisted when he heard Sora humming again. Instead he resigned himself to whatever fate the boy felt like dragging him into and contented himself with the warmth of Sora's hand in his leading him through the darkness and the sound of Sora's made-up tune assuring Riku of his presence.

Just like old times: Sora leading Riku on some secret surprise adventure. Riku felt warm at the memories. He hadn't realized how much he had missed his friend like this. No other friends, no homework, no gossip, just them on an adventure together.

"We're here!" Sora shouted ecstatically.

Riku opened his eyes which first fell on the brunet who was looking back at him, grin on his face, sparkle in his eyes, and hands outstretched for the dramatic reveal. Riku looked up and blinked in confusion.

What was Sora so excited about? What he missing something?

They were standing in front of Paradise Burger, their normal burger joint. Riku couldn't see anything different about it. What was he supposed to be excited about?

Riku slowly started panicking. He didn't want to disappoint Sora but he couldn't see why Sora had made such a big deal.

The brunet started laughing and Riku glanced back at him.

"What were you expecting Princess? A five-star restaurant?"

Riku quirked a smile. Ah, so Sora was just being cute. Riku shook his head and chuckled. He was suddenly overcome with an urge to hug Sora tight and never let go. He resisted for a second until he realized he was allowed to give into that urge. They were on a date after all. He squeezed Sora senseless while the brunet giggled until he couldn't breathe.

Honestly, he was glad Sora hadn't gone all out. It would be weird for them to sit together in a fancy place and do romantic things. It was better this way. This way it was like they were buddies just hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

Riku slid his arm around Sora's waist as they walked down the beach. It was funny how they had walked this beach a million times but suddenly it was different because they were on a 'date.' It was suddenly like the night was special and the beach was made just for them.

Thoughts of being intimate with his best friend still made Riku panic a little but when he was with Sora, everything was perfect.

How could he have never thought of this before? Why didn't he realize it sooner? Looking back, Riku realized he had always liked Sora as more than a friend. Ignorantly, he ascribed this to their close childhood friendship but the truth was they weren't inseparable because they grew up together, they were inseparable because they always wanted to be with each other.

It was crazy how naturally they fell into this whole relationship thing.

His arm seemed to fit perfect around the shorter boy. Their hips moved in rhythm to keep them from tripping over each other. Their shoes made a soft swish sound in the sand just barely audible over the whispering ocean.

"Hey Riku." Sora murmured breaking their comfortable silence.

"Hmm?"

Sora hair tickled Riku's cheek and he moved his head, "Are you….well, are we…like boyfriends?"

Riku couldn't help but laugh. He felt like Sora was the more experienced one in this relationship so every time Sora fumbled it made Riku feel a little more confident, "Yes Sora I think we are 'like boyfriends.'"

"Hey," Sora said quickly changing the subject before they could too awkward, "Let's go to the cave!"

Riku, a little stunned by the sudden change of topic, didn't have much to think as Sora pulled him away to their destination.

It was dark. This made sense as it was nearly sundown and they were in a cave but understanding it didn't make Riku like any better. He had never been a fan of the dark. It didn't help that Sora was rummaging around and Riku couldn't tell what he was doing. With the way the cave echoed he could barely tell where the other boy was in the cave. He knew he couldn't be far as the available space was significantly smaller than he remembered and there was no way for them to be more than arms reach away.

Something crackled then the area lit up.

Riku blinked trying to make out what he was looking at, "You have a lighter on you?" He asked in surprise. Sora didn't respond as he was busy lighting a collection of sticks he had gathered.

"Why would you have a lighter on you?" Riku wondered if the cave had been part of the plan all along instead of the spontaneous idea Sora played it off to be.

Sora looked up at Riku having successfully created a fire, "Because I'm a pyromaniac." He admitted flicking the lighter again with a psychotic grin.

Riku crossed his arms and looked at his friend refusing to believe that.

Sora giggled, "Just kidding. Something I picked up from a friend." He shrugged, "Comes in handy more often than you'd think."

Riku couldn't think of one situation a lighter would come in handy for Sora other than, apparently, lighting a fire in a cave on an impromptu visit at night. Riku narrowed his eyes wondering what kind of friends Sora was talking about and vaguely wondered how much of his life Sora had been keeping from him. Did he hang out with smokers now?

"Sora," Riku sighed, "I thought we were over you keeping secrets from me."

Sora blinked apparently not realizing he had done anything.

"Oh," He looked at the lighter, "It's Roxas's. He's gotten in the habit of flicking it repeatedly when he's annoyed. It was driving me crazy so I stole it. I didn't realize I still had it on me but I found it in my backpack a couple of days ago. No idea how it got there. I stuck in my vest so I would remember to take it home but I guess I forgot," He shrugged.

"So Roxas is a pyromaniac now?"

Sora chuckled, "I think it has something to do with his friend but…never mind that."

Riku looked like he was about to protest the change in subject when Sora kissed him and he decided he rather liked this new subject anyway.

Next Chapter: Kairi's story begins and Sora and Riku run into some issues.