Summary: His life had always been perfect, or at least so Roxas had liked to think. But overcoming his own fears for someone else isn't as easy as it seems. When both his own and his lover's past threatens their unstable relationship, Roxas has to face the truth: His life was far from perfect. But at least it was better than Axel's.
Warnings: Yaoi. An itty-bitty little bit of swearing. Again.
Pairings: AkuRoku main, RikuxSora, ZexionxDemyx side pairings. Possible LeonxCloud later on. Much, much later though.
Disclaimer: AS IF!!! Ha!
Um... I just want to apologize, 'cause this is not the long chapter I promised. It was simply taking too long to write it, so I decided to split it up into three parts. Please don't kill me! I didn't want to make you guys wait so long, and the next two parts are like taking forever... I'll try to write faster, promise! Uhm. Well. Read it anyway!
Perfect Match - Chapter 9
Roxas awoke to loud noises drafting through the partially open windows of his room. He groaned and turned, hiding his head under his pillow to block out the offending racket. It didn't help much, just made it hard to breathe, so he gave up and threw the pillow away. It hit the wall with a soft 'fwump' and fell to the floor.
He lay still for a moment, listening to the clattering and knocking and cracking and the sound of Sora's voice as he bugged and bothered the hired workers who were setting everything up. It was oddly comforting to hear his brother fussing about the midsummer festival. Normally it would have irritated him, all this racket and fussing, but today... it was different.
He was different.
Roxas smiled and stood up, stretching and yawning and rubbing his eyes. He looked to his window, blinking surprised when he noticed the sun already standing up high in the sky. He glanced at his alarm clock, blinking again and stepping closer to the small device, crouching beside his nightstand and screwing up his cerulean eyes, again reading the red glowing numbers on the small screen.
11 fucking 37!
The hell? He never slept this late! He had slept almost twelve fucking hours! He hadn't slept this long since... since... He had never slept this long! What had happened to his four hours of sleep?
He had already wondered why he felt so fresh and wide awake today, despite being woken by the noise outside... NOT! Fuck, he was still tired!
Shaking his head he stood up again, grimacing when a few bones in his spine decided to crack and pop loudly, stretching once again and grabbing a red t-shirt and black pajama pants from his dresser (which was a small room itself actually) before heading out of his room. Usually he wouldn't have minded running around the house half naked, but with all these strangers setting up Sora's party around the house... Whatever.
He shuffled downstairs, glad nobody seemed to be actually in the house, dragging himself to the kitchen and opening the fridge and cupboards, trying to find something to eat.
He let out a delighted squeal he would have never admitted to have uttered, grabbing a box of his favorite cereal. He filled a bowl with it, snatching one last marshmallow from the box before putting it back, drowning the marshmallow/cereal mix generously with chocolate milk he found in the fridge. Yum. Way to begin the day!
He listened again to Sora asking somebody questions about... cooling dishes? Huh? What was that supposed to mean?
He continued to stuff sugary, already gooey marshmallow/chocolate milk mix into his mouth, still only half awake, when he heard people entering the house, some of them chatting and laughing, and he felt a pang of jealousy. Very small, but it was there. Because even though he had decided to change and open up to people other than his brother again, he still had a hard time relaxing and laughing like these people did so naturally. True, it was easier for him to smile now, but he still felt strange when he actually laughed, although he really enjoyed it... Sometimes it still felt... wrong. Sometimes he even wished he could go back and be the perfect puppet again, wished he could have his fanclub fussing about him again, wished he could not care about what everybody thought about him again. Sometimes he wished he could stop caring again, despite the fact it would hurt Sora more than anything if he did...
But when he thought like that he would look at Axel once, admiring his unearthly beauty and his equally beautiful personality, his eyes, his attitude, his habit of playing with lighters... and he would know he could never go back. He would never be able not to care again.
He sighed and stared down at the still half-full bowl, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore.
It wasn't fair! Why did it have to be Axel? Why did it have to be the redhead he was drawn to? He knew he could never have him. Axel's reaction to his advances had made that clear. The green eyed boy just wanted to be friends with him... nothing more...
Okay, shit, it had probably not been the best idea to jump the older boy the very day they met, but...
It wasn't fair! He could have had anybody else! Why did it have to be Axel?
He sighed again, head jerking up when suddenly a giggling blur of blue and black and brown tackled him and threw him to the ground, his breakfast going down with him, bowl shattering and it's content creating a sticky mess on the kitchen floor, the spoon clattering over the tiles and disappearing under a cupboard.
Roxas didn't even have time to let out a surprised yell. The air escaped his lungs when his back made contact with the cold floor, and then something was lying on him and squeezing his fucking life out of him...
He gasped and struggled, trying to get much-needed oxygen into his poor lungs, but no avail. And this giggling, spiky-haired monster on top of him wouldn't let go!
"Roxyyyyyyyyy! You're awake!" Sora yelled into his ear, still not budging dammit! "C'mon, you have to see what I planned! It's so cool, all the work is already done..."
Roxas could already see black and red dots dancing before his eyes! Damn, that couldn't be healthy!
"Need... air!" he finally rasped out, trying again to shove his brother off of him.
"Huh? Oh! Sorry!" Sora jumped up, helping Roxas stand up and rubbing his back while Roxas took a few deep breaths, propping his hands on his knees and trying to glare at his twin, but failing horribly when he saw the look of pure innocence in Sora's wide eyes. Phew, at least those stupid dots disappeared... good.
"Uhm, sorry..." Sora grinned sheepishly and clasped his hands behind his back, shuffling his feet. "It's just... I'm so excited! It's so cool! You have to see it! C'mon!" He grabbed Roxas' arm and dragged him outside, ignoring Roxas' sputtered protests completely.
"Hey, we have to clean that up!" Roxas said with a quick look at the mess they left in the kitchen. Well, Sora did it, really. "The house was just cleaned yesterday!" Like every Friday. Every Friday when the twins left the house for school a cleaning company came to the mansion to clean the rooms the twins rarely used. It was just too huge to keep it clean all on their own.
"I'll do it later!" Sora snorted somewhat annoyed, making Roxas almost trip over the carpet in the living room. "Come on!"
And again Roxas asked himself why his parents hadn't just hired a maid or two to hold the house clean. It was stupid. His father had once calculated it would be cheaper to hold the house clean this way. Friday the cleaning company, Tuesday the gardeners, and never ever did the twins see any of them. The garden was done when they came home on Tuesdays, the house was clean on Fridays. Hey, those people could steal money from the safe in their father's home office and the twins would never notice.
He, not their problem anyway. The cleaning people never touched their rooms, and that was all that counted for them.
But Roxas forgot his anger about his irresponsible parents when he was dragged out to take a first look at the decorated private beach behind the house by his energetic twin.
His eyes widened when he saw what his brother had planned for the party.
"Sora..." He looked around, eyes wide, his eyes finally resting on the almost blindingly bright grin Sora was sporting. "Are you insane?"
Sora's face fell. He looked around himself, scratching his head. "What? You don't like it?"
Roxas didn't answer and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Do Mom and Dad know what they're paying for this year?"
Sora laughed and turned around, taking another good look at the beach.
"It's not like they can't afford it," Sora giggled, jumping over the railing of their porch. Roxas followed him, slowly climbing down the stairs leading to the flower garden and the small path leading to the beach. Sora was already there, busying himself by checking some things.
"We do have a limit, you know?" Roxas insisted... but he had to admit he kinda... liked it. Sora had done a great job, even better than the years before.
There was not only one, but three fireplaces, next to the actual bonfire, a stack of logs that was higher than Sora himself. The way to the fireplace was seamed by torches stuck firmly into the warm sand, and torches also surrounded the tables carrying the food and drinks. The seven, no eight tables were not only cramped with more food than fourteen teenagers could probably eat in one day, they were also decorated with sea shells and blue and white and red cloth and sparkling gemstones. The food itself was under some sort of glass covers, and the plates the food was resting on seemed to be connected to a... cooling aggregate? That was hidden under the tables? Weird! There was even a mini fridge for the drinks on each table...
Next to the tables a huge hi-fi-system was placed on a small platform made out of wood, and Roxas counted twelve speakers scattered around the fireplace, some of them even attached to palm trees or halfway hidden in the sand. Next to the sound system some music instruments lay around, and next to them there were a few blitzballs and other games utensils, towels and other stuff.
All this would already have been enough, but Sora had added something else. Next to a group of palm trees which outlined the beach and divided it from the public part seven tents had been pitched, two persons each. Five of them were black with blood red patterns on them, two white with sky blue patterns. Unusually colorless for being set up by Sora. He usually preferred strong colors, and many of them.
"Tse, we never used the whole money Mom and Dad gave us for the festival. They won't mind us spending a tad bit more once," Sora said confidently, grinning at his twin expectantly. "So, what do you think? Do you think they'll like it? I know, it's a bit bigger than usual, but... I figured they would maybe want to sit by themselves, and fourteen people around one fireplace are too many anyway, and the girls already said they wanted a fireplace for themselves last year when Tidus and Hayner got drunk and started to dance and trip over us, so I made three of them... Oh, and I know Riku said they didn't want to spend the night, but I got the tents anyway, just in case they change their minds... Do you think they'll like them? I wanted to take something more colorful, but I think they don't like colors, so I got these... The white and blue ones are for the girls, aren't they pretty?, and the black ones for the boys... Mmmpfmmmfff?"
Roxas silenced his brother by holding one hand over his mouth. He stared at the tables again, then back at his twin.
"Sora," he asked slowly, "is that a whole table full of marshmallows I see?"
Sora blinked and looked at the tables too, grinning beneath Roxas' hand.
"Yup!" he exclaimed happily as soon as Roxas pulled away. "There can never be too many marshmallows! Camping food number one, I say! Yay for S'mores!" He sprinted to said table, grabbing one pack of sweet, sticky, sugary goodness, ripping it open and stuffing a handful into his mouth, grinning while trying to swallow the gooey substance without choking on it.
Roxas followed him, taking one marshmallow himself and examining it before he shrugged and put it in his mouth.
"You know," he said around the sticky substance, licking his fingers and looking around thoughtfully. "I think you're absolutely right." Then he grinned and jumped without a warning, tackling his brother to the ground and starting to... tickle him mercilessly!
"WAH! No, R... Roxy, AH, stop! N-Not thereeeeee..." Sora guffawed, trying to shake him off.
"But you're still insane!" Roxas yelled, throwing himself over Sora to keep him from struggling, poking Sora's sides and stomach all the while. Sora laughed and giggled helplessly, attempting to shove him off weakly.
"So... HA! What? Y-You love me... EEEEP... for it! Wah, stop, please!"
But Roxas just laughed, continuing to torture his oh so ticklish twin. Until Sora managed to throw him off somehow, that is. He fell into the warm sand, getting sand everywhere in his clothes and hair, but still laughing like mad. Sora punched his shoulder playfully, still giggling and curling up into a ball next to him.
"You should laugh more, Roxy," Sora said after he had calmed down a bit. He smoothed a blond strand of hair out of his brother's face gently. "It suits you, you know?"
"Hm..." Roxas rolled around so he was facing his brother, mimicking his pose by drawing his knees up and slinging an arm around them. "It doesn't feel wrong." It was just a whisper, but Sora heard him. He smiled a bit confused. "When you're here," Roxas explained. "It doesn't feel wrong to laugh when you're here."
Sora sighed still smiling, taking Roxas' hand and squeezing it gently. "It's sad it feels wrong at all, Roxy," he replied, and now his smile looked slightly sad. "But I'm glad I can help you with that." He sat up, stretching and chuckling when he looked at his preparations for the party. "Man, I'm so excited! This party's gonna be awesome! I know it!"
"Yeah," Roxas agreed and stood, helping Sora up and dusting his clothes off. "Well, I'll take a quick shower. When are the others coming?"
"In about two hours..."
"Fine. Enough time for you to clean up the mess in the kitchen." This time it was Roxas who ignored his brothers protests. He smirked and then laughed, walking back to the house.
It didn't feel wrong at all.
The first ones to arrive were Kairi and Naminé, as usual. The two girls greeted them with friendly hugs, chatting excitedly about the big party Sora had promised them, but falling silent when they actually saw what Sora had planned.
Kairi squealed and squeezed Sora almost to death, kissing the stunned boy on the cheek before running off to examine the beach. Sora 'eeeep'ed, wiping his cheek with a horror-stricken expression on his face. Roxas actually expected him to yell something like 'Ew! Cooties!', but Sora just muttered something inaudible and followed the hyper redhead.
Naminé just shook her head and smiled at their childish behavior before she followed too.
The next ones were Hayner, Pence and Wakka, followed by Olette, Selphie and Tidus. All of them were ecstatic about the huge bonfire and the enormous amounts of food, and Selphie and Olette wouldn't stop squealing about their own 'girl's fireplace' and the cute tents, whereas the boys inspected the food and sound system, turning it on to play some cheery, popular music Roxas already hated. Then Tidus spotted the games and balls lying around and ran off with Wakka on his heels, the two of them promptly starting a game of blitzball which everybody joined quickly.
The twins watched them play and splash around in the warm water, then looked at each other and gazed at their watches at the same time. This very moment they looked even more alike than usual.
"When did they say they'd come?" Roxas asked tentatively.
"'Round two. Three, latest," Sora answered dully.
"It's already half past three," Roxas answered. He didn't really know why his heart suddenly seemed to beat slower... and slower... Why did it feel so heavy?
"Maybe... they just can't find our house?" Sora said hopefully, but Roxas shook his head.
"Axel was here once, remember?" he replied darkly, his heart beating slower still...
"Oh..." Soras lower lip jutted out a bit, quivering slightly before he bit down on it sadly. He gazed at his watch again, sighing and blinking a few times. His big blue eyes looked glossy somehow... even his spiky hair seemed to droop slightly, giving him an overall dejected appearance...
Roxas patted his back, leading him to the nearest not yet lightened fireplace to sit down. "The party will still be great, you'll see," he tried to cheer his brother up. Sora smiled weakly and nodded, looking over to where all the others were still playing and yelling and having fun.
Roxas felt so helpless. He had never seen Sora so down... it had to mean really much to him...
Right now he wanted to strangle somebody. Preferably one silver haired son of a bitch because of whom his twin had to be so miserable...
"I... I just... wanted..." Sora suddenly whispered hoarsely, spiky hair covering his eyes and parts of his face. Roxas tried to look at him, but Sora turned away, wiping his face with one hand.
"Sora?" He asked gently, laying one hand on a trembling shoulder, but Sora swatted his hand away.
"He told me he'd come!" Sora screamed, slamming one fist into the sand and kicking some away at the same time. "He fucking promised he'd come! Asshole!"
Roxas jerked back, thoroughly surprised by this sudden outburst, and equally worried about his brother. Sora only swore when he was really, really upset about something...
"Dammit, if he didn't want to come he could have said so!" Sora yelled angrily, but a slight tremor made it's way into his voice. He kicked out again, this time screaming angrily as he did so. "But no, he had to promise and get my hopes up and... Fuck!"
"Sora..." Roxas tried again to calm him down. He was already mildly disturbed by Sora's screaming, and he noticed the others looking at them confused. He almost panicked, again reaching out to Sora. "Maybe they are just late. Hm? You'll see, they will show up..."
"He fucking hates me!" Sora didn't seem to hear him. "He always gets all weird and silent when I try to talk to him, and he never lets me touch him! He freaked out when I tried to hug him! Why do I even try? He'll never like me!"
Ah, so that was what this really was about...
"Sora, that's not true. Don't say that," Roxas told his brother gently, again trying to look him in the eyes. Sora turned away again, sniffling slightly as he did so, but Roxas caught a glimpse of glossy cerulean eyes and a wet trail of tears down his brother's cheek. "C'mon, how could he not like you? You're funny, and you're smart..."
"I'm not! You're the smart twin!" Sora snorted, attempting to stand up, but Roxas held him back.
"That doesn't mean you're not smart. Sora, look at me!" Roxas pulled on Sora's arm forcefully, trying to get his twin to look at him, but Sora just looked down, chocolate colored bangs covering his eyes again. "They are just late! They'll come, you'll see..."
And this very moment a terrible realization hit him.
They weren't coming because of him!
It was so obvious! Axel wouldn't want to come because... because of what Roxas had tried to do... Zexion wouldn't want to come because Roxas had the feeling the blue haired boy was mad at him since Demyx had talked to him... Zexion hadn't spoken to him since then! Demyx wouldn't want to come if Zexion wasn't here... and Riku would not want to come to the party if his friends weren't there...
It was his fault... again...
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Sora growled, ripping his arm out of Roxas' weakened grasp violently. "It's stupid anyway, I... I mean I don't even know him and... and... I... I'm going... I'll be back in a few." He turned and ran away, leaving his stunned brother behind. Roxas blinked and frowned, trying to process what exactly just had happened...
Damn, Sora really liked this guy...
And Roxas had blown it!
He tried not to be killed by guilt as he watched his brother flee the beach, wiping his face again and again. The guilt was gnawing at him, slowly eating away the happiness from before, when he had just goofed off with his brother...
Roxas noticed Kairi running up to him, a worried look on her face, but he just shook his head when she opened her mouth to say something. She didn't know about Sora's little 'crush', and Roxas thought his brother would prefer it that way... even though Kairi was Sora's best friend, she was quite a gossip sometimes.
And... since it was his fault... he had to apologize to Sora...
"I'll talk to him," he said and frowned when she tried to speak again. "Alone."
Kairi looked hurt, but she nodded and looked down. Roxas left her, running into the house himself, already wanting to look for his brother upstairs... when something caught his attention.
There... was a sound coming from the intercom system in the hallway leading to the front door. Weird. He didn't remember turning it on. Maybe Sora had? And was that... a... voice?
He looked to the stairs, unsure if he should better see if Sora was okay... but he decided to look who was at the door first. Just to be sure...
"... stupid! They're already waiting..."
Roxas stopped abruptly hearing this voice. Even though slightly warped from the intercom and coming from those crappy speakers, he knew immediately who it was... This voice that haunted his dreams, he would have been able to recognize it everywhere...
"Axel?" he whispered, raising one hand to turn on the small screen to look who was standing outside, hesitating for a second.
"Why didn't you tell me they live in a fucking mansion?"
That had to be Riku.
Roxas frowned, switching on the screen and watching as the two of them argued. The screen showed the scene outside only in black and white, and slightly disproportionated, but he saw enough. Axel and Riku seemed to be arguing, Zexion and Demyx standing behind them and watching. Demyx was holding Axel's hand, looking down at his feet sadly. And Zexion was still not looking at the other boy.
"I didn't think that was important, dumbass!" Axel shouted, combing through his spiky hair with one hand frustrated.
"Not important! It is fucking important! A mansion, dude! A fucking mansion!" Riku yelled, fisting one hand in his hair and looking away, groaning softly.
"So! What if they're fucking rich kids? They're still nice! They invited us, remember?" Axel said, the words making Roxas smile brightly.
So... they weren't mad at him?
That thought made him feel all warm and tingly inside, and he felt his happy smile widen even more. Axel wasn't mad anymore. And even Zexion was here! But the smile vanished as soon as Riku looked up again, pushing Axel away angrily.
"Yeah, we're probably some kind of welfare case to them! Fuck!" the silver haired boy hissed, just loud enough for Roxas to hear. "I'm sure they invited us because they pitied us or someth..."
"Now you're just being a fucking paranoid ass, Riku!" Axel interrupted him.
"How would you know? Hey, and you were the one who came home two weeks ago almost crying, so don't tell me that wasn't because of th..."
"That had nothing to do with this fucking mansion or them being rich, Riku." Axel said so icily Roxas felt a shiver running up and down his spine. This cold voice made him almost want to cry... had he not been so fucking furious about that silver haired asshole!
He switched the intercom off, opening the front door so quickly it banged against the wall and stomping outside, his hands balled into tight fists, feeling like he was on fire. He felt the anger boiling up inside him, making him want to scream and rip Riku's pretty head off. That fucking asshole, how could he...
"... just being ridiculous, Riku," he heard Zexion say calmly. "Why wouldn't Sora like you just because he's rich? That makes no sense."
Roxas stopped dead in his tracks, listening again.
"But... but he..." Riku stuttered, obviously searching for words desperately but finding none.
"Yeah, he's a nice kid. So what if we don't have money? I still think he wants to be your friend. He acts like it anyway," Axel added, now much quieter and softer than before.
"But... he... I..." Riku tried again, but again he failed, sighing heavily.
The uncertainty in his voice was enough to cool Roxas down... a bit. He was still angry, but he thought he could forgive Riku... this time. Or he could at least hold himself back so he wouldn't kill the silver haired bastard... again, this time.
He scowled and punched in his code for the front gate, stepping back as it swung open silently.
He folded his arms in front of his chest, glaring at the boys standing outside who stared at him surprised. Glaring especially at the one with silver hair and aquamarine eyes.
For a few moments no one said a word. Roxas kept staring angrily at Riku who just stared back, Zexion, Demyx and Axel sharing a confused look.
"Hey, Sunshine!" Axel finally exclaimed cheerily, but this time Roxas didn't even react to this stupid nickname. "Sorry we're a bit late, but Pretty Boy here wouldn't stop fussing about his hair and..."
"... and the fact that we're living in a fucking mansion obviously makes us bastards who only talk to you to get good karma points," Roxas finished for him, strangely satisfied by the guilty expression on Riku's pale face.
"I... didn't mean it li-"
"So why did you say it?" Roxas yelled, again wanting to punch Riku for saying things like that about Sora. He didn't mind if the silver haired boy thought about him like that, he knew he had quite a reputation in school. It wouldn't surprise him if Riku heard something about him being stuck-up or something, but how could he say something like this about Sora of all people?
Riku opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again and stared down to the ground ashamed.
"Thought so," Roxas growled, registering Riku wincing slightly. He stepped forward, nudging Riku' chest with one finger, ignoring how the taller boy jerked away from his touch. He deserved it, dammit! "Because Sora is the nicest, most adorable, loving and wonderful person on this fucking island, no, in this fucking world! And right now he's not even at the fucking party he worked so hard to set up for! He planned everything a week ago and bugged me about it every fucking day because he wanted it to be perfect! For you, asshole! So you guys would feel welcome here, and because he likes you and he wants to be your friend! And just because you're an asshole about our parents being rich he's in his room and not at the beach with our other friends! And he's probably crying and sulking about you not liking him right now! Dammit, everybody likes him! He's not used to people not liking him!"
And he especially wants you to like him!
Riku looked at him completely dumbstruck. Roxas scowled at him again, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He still waited for the other boy to apologize, dammit! And if Riku started the next sentence with something other than 'I'm sorry!'... so God help him, then this guy would be sorry!
"But... that's not it!" Riku finally muttered, looking away again. "I... I do like him... it's just..."
"Look, I don't care," Roxas interrupted him rudely, grabbing the other boy's hand and dragging him inside, ignoring the shocked expression on Riku's handsome face and his weak attempts to break free from his tight grasp. "But you will apologize to Sora, and that's final!"
Far away he heard Axel and Zexion calling out for him and Riku worriedly, but the anger still clouding his mind prevented him from registering it properly. He still felt Riku's hand twitch and twist, but he never let go, dragging Riku into the house and up the stairs. He heard the other boys following him, and when he finally turned around he first didn't understand why they looked so fucking worried...
Until he finally realized Riku's hand was ice cold, and Riku himself looked at him with wide, frightened eyes and even paler than usual, silver hair falling into his face, shoulders trembling.
He let go of Riku's hand quickly, feeling a tiny little bit bad for scaring him... although it was ridiculous, Riku was taller and way stronger than Roxas... why the fuck was he so afraid?
He refused to feel sorry for Riku who stepped back, bumping into Axel who had followed them upstairs. Riku whirled around, raising his hands as if to protect himself and gasping loudly.
"Hey, calm down, 'tis just me..." Axel gently took Riku's wrists and forced them down. Behind him Zexion and Demyx followed, Zexion now again holding the other boy's hand.
Roxas chose to ignore them, turning around again and knocking on the door to Sora's room. Really, he had other things to worry about than Riku's irrational fear of being touched... He had to worry about his brother at the moment.
No answer.
"Hey, Sora," he called out softly, again receiving no answer. He sighed, then opened the door to peek into the room cautiously. "You okay? Can I come in?"
"No," came the muffled reply from somewhere next to the bed. "And no."
Sora sat at the foot of his huge bed on the floor, back leaning against the bed and legs crossed, hugging a pillow and staring out of the window, down to the beach where the others seemed to have continued playing blitzball. He didn't even look up, just continued to look out of the big window with this unhappy expression on his face. He sighed when Roxas entered the room fully, burying his face in the pillow.
"Go away, Roxas," he said, his words muffled by the pillow but still sounding slightly angry. "At least you should have fun at the party."
"But I found something to cheer you up," Roxas said grinning, turning to glare at Riku who stared at the room wide-eyed. Axel looked around too, his face showing mild amusement when he saw the underwater scenery painted at the wall. Demyx stared at the painting in awe, whereas Zexion just looked at the room once, then looked away again.
"And what would that..." Sora stopped abruptly when he finally looked up, not even looking at Roxas but at a point behind him... His blue eyes widened, his mouth fell open in shock, but then a unbelievably happy smile lit up his whole face, making his eyes sparkle and shine again.
With a yell he threw the pillow away, jumping up and running over to them, hugging Roxas briefly on the way before he attempted to hug Riku, holding back the very last moment possible. Riku still just stood there, only staring at Sora who stepped back again, scratching his head sheepishly and laughing a bit.
"Oh, sorry, almost got carried away," he giggled, clapping his hands once and fidgeting, barely able to contain his delight. "You guys made it! My God, I already thought you wouldn't come! Man, that's so cool, I'm so happy you're here, we have to go downstairs, everybody is waiting for you..." Again he leaned a bit forward, spreading his arms as if to hug Riku, then remembering again the silver haired boy didn't want that... He clasped his hands together again, his smile now getting slightly uneasy. Roxas knew how Sora loved to hug people... it had to kill him to hold back like that.
Rikus eyes were glued to the smile on Sora's face, then wandered to Sora's cerulean orbs slowly. He seemed to fight himself, blinking rapidly, the corner of his mouth twitching down slightly. The silver haired boy swallowed, crossing his arms and rubbing them nervously and uncrossing them again, attempting to step forward and holding back...
And then he reached out and pulled Sora into a tight embrace.
Everybody's mouths fell open, all eyes on the two boys hugging... well more like Riku hugging Sora who froze and uttered a surprised gasp, sky blue eyes as wide as saucers, arms at his sides, hands balled into fists.
Riku didn't look comfortable at all. His eyes were opened wide too, and he was biting his lip nervously. But he still embraced Sora, even though his arms trembled slightly. A slight sheen of sweat covered his brow and his breathing seemed to grow more and more labored, but he didn't let go. He looked so scared, but he refused to let go like he always did...
Soras mouth opened and closed, his Adam's apple working like he wanted to say something, but the only thing coming out of his mouth was a whispered "Ri... ku?..."
"I'm sorry," Riku forced out, paling a little more and swallowing once again. "It was my fault... I... I just was being stupid, we were already here an hour ago, but I didn't want to go inside..."
"O-Okay... It's okay, now you're here..." Sora replied puzzled, clenching and unclenching his hands, raising them slightly and letting them drop to his sides again, letting out a surprised gasp when Riku suddenly rested his chin on Sora's shoulder, closing his eyes tightly. "You... you don't have to... to... h-hug me, you know? I-It's okay, really!"
"But I want to!" Riku said, his voice wavering just a bit. "I-I'm sorry, I... didn't know your house was so huge, and I didn't know you were rich, and I... I... fuck, I just assumed you wouldn't really be friends with us because... because we... I... have nothing to offer you, and... I..."
Oh my God! Roxas thought, feeling a smile stretching his lips slightly. He looked at Axel who smirked too, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. Axel's smirk grew even wider, and he winked at Roxas, nodding his head in Riku's and Sora's direction.
He likes him! the redhead mouthed and bit his lip to stifle what Roxas assumed was an amused chuckle. Roxas nodded and smiled back, holding a hand over his mouth himself.
"What are you talking about?" Sora asked confused, slowly raising his hands again, this time resting them on Rikus waist carefully. The taller boy grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut even more, but he managed somehow not to flinch this time. He just sighed shakily, burying his nose in the soft fabric of Sora's shirt. Sora blinked surprised, suddenly blushing furiously. He shifted his arms slowly to embrace Riku properly, his arms now circling Riku's waist. Riku's arms still lay around Sora's slim shoulders, his hands fisting in Sora's shirt.
"I m-mean, you already have so many friends, and... I... I was just scared you were just being nice to us because... well, because we were new and that you... wouldn't really want to be our friend and that you were just pitying us and..." Riku sighed against Sora's shoulder. "And now I'm rambling. Great."
Sora laughed and shook his head. "So? I'm rambling all the time," he joked, blushing an even deeper shade of red when Riku finally released him with a deep sigh.
Riku looked into Sora's big eyes, smiling and blushing slightly himself. "So... we good?" he asked unusually shy. Actually he only acted like that around Sora...
Cause he likes him! Roxas thought happily.
Sora grinned. "Were we not good before?"
Riku smirked and shook his head, letting go of Sora completely.
And then both of them blushed heavily when they finally realized they had had an audience the whole fucking time!
"Holy Shit," Axel commented, smirking evilly. "I'll have to remember to bring a camera the next time."
"Shut up, Pyro!" Riku hissed, his cheeks still flushed. Sora blushed again, looking down at his hands, but Roxas could see he was smiling.
And then Roxas broke down laughing as he watched Zexion putting away his cell phone with an amused smirk on his face. His cell phone which he had taken photos with when nobody was watching.
Short Notes: Well, there it is. The first part. I apologize for it being so short, but like I said, the other two parts are giving me a hard time... sigh I hope to upload the next one next Wednesday or something. Could take a little longer, though. Sor-reh!
Hehe. Riku's a total sap in this fic. Anybody noticed? Hehe.
Oh, and one little message to TheOptimisticPessimist: I'm sorry, no Zexy emoliciousness this chapter... but to make up for that the next part will revolve all around our favorite little emo and why he's mad at Roxas. A whole fucking chapter, that's right!
Well... And again I want to thank all of you who reviewed! Holy shit, I got so many reviews for this chapter, it's insane! And I love every single one of them! Really, you guys rock! I wanted to post the next chapter at least before the last chapter was hit 300 times, but I was even too slow for that! Wow! I never thought so many people would even read it!
Thanks to my new reviewers: Orcadia, madhatter312113, SoraPuppy, Vixyfox, Heaven is Drunk, chibi neko doll, Schectersona, Chizz-muffinChick, DevilsThrillKitsune, Indie Rockin' Emo, uchihacest-gurl, roxasluvsaxel.
Also a big thank you to all of you already mentioned in the last chapter! Don't feel left out if I didn't mention you this time although you too reviewed... I still love you all for it!
Oh, and if I forgot to mention someone: You have the permission to whack my head with a newspaper. Just send me a PM then or something, and I'll be sure you'll be mentioned next time!
Toodles!