A week passed, and the day finally came for Riku to leave the hospital. I rushed to the hospital right after school with a box of chocolates, and some of Riku's clothes that I'd gotten from Roxas since the two of them shared a locker. Riku looked much healthier than he had the week before. Color had returned to his face and his little cuts had mostly healed. His head was no longer bandaged, and what remained in its place was a long thin cut that ran along from about the middle of his forehead and ended just below his temple. The cut seemed clean though, and looked like it would heal well. Riku smiled when I entered the room.

"Hi. I brought these for you," I grinned, handing him the chocolates.

"Aw... Thanks, Sora," he answered, his cheeks reddening slightly.

"You're welcome. And here's your clothes," I said. I knew he would have to change into some of his own clothes since he was still dressed in hospital clothing.

"How did you get these? ...You didn't go to my house, did you?" he asked, his expression changing to a worried one.

"No. Since you share a locker with Roxas, I just asked him if any of your clothes were in it," I explained, sitting down beside him.

"Oh, good. I-I would never want you to get hurt by... my father," he said, staring sadly down at the bed. I tilted my head to the side and regarded him.

"...Riku, would you want to stay at my house for a while? I don't want to see you get hurt either."

"No, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? I know my mom wouldn't mind if you came," I told him, knowing full well that my mother would enjoy the company.

"No, it's okay. I'll be alright."

"O-okay," I said, still feeling unsure. But Riku smiled slightly, so I did the same.

"Anyway, you should get changed so we can get out of here," I said, passing him his sweatshirt, jeans, and all his other garments.

"Yeah," he answered, accepting them. He then paused and looked up at me. "Sora?"

"Uh-huh?"

"...I know the others weren't too badly hurt, but what if they had been? Do you think they would hate me?" he asked, those aqua eyes displaying his concern.

"What? Why are you asking that all of a sudden?" I questioned, shocked by his sudden inquiry.

"I don't know. I was just thinking... since Tidus turned against me so quickly, who's to say the others wouldn't do the same? Maybe they hate me already. After all, I was the one driving that car..."

"Riku, don't start thinking that! The accident wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. Sure, Tidus was a jerk, and Seifer can be a jerk sometimes too. But the ones like Axel and Roxas, they're your real friends. They would never hate you," I told him.

"You think so?"

"Of course I think so. Wakka asked how you were doing, and when I went to see how well Rai was recovering, he asked how 'The King of Cool' was," I grinned.

"He still thinks that about me?"

"Yeah."

"Sora, do you still think I'm a jerk like those other guys?" Riku asked.

"I think you were just hanging out with the wrong crowd. I don't believe you're bad like Tidus and Seifer." Riku still didn't look convinced.

"Look, don't worry about what happened in the past. Just think of this as your fresh start," I told him, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Will you help me?"

"Of course. Now, don't let anything else get you down today, alright? It's a day to celebrate," I smiled.

"'Kay," the silver-haired teen agreed.

"Now, let's hurry and leave."

Riku and I skipped through the park, hand-in-hand. I could tell he still had a lot on his mind, but I just kept a wide smile on my face, and hoped that he would follow suit. Finally, we made it to the swingset, and we each sat down on a swing. The sweet smell of the outdoor air and the energizing feeling of being with Riku again made me giggle a bit.

"What's with you?" Riku questioned curiously, looking over at me as he tried to catch his breath from all that skipping.

"I'm just happy. That's all," I smiled. He simply nodded and I nudged him with my elbow.

"You should be happy too," I said. I then kicked my shoes off and squished my bare feet into the sand below my swing.

"I wish I could be happy like you," the older boy said, quietly. I took my eyes off my sandy feet and looked up at him.

"Why can't you be happy? What's on your mind?" I asked.

"Why did that accident have to happen...?"

"Accidents happen all the time, Riku. If we could prevent them, they wouldn't be accidents. I told you before, it wasn't your fault."

"I know it wasn't my fault. But Axel's arm is broken, and Rai and Seifer got a ton of bruises. I can't help but feel like I could've swerved out of the way or something to avoid getting hit," he explained, his voice sounding dark and his eyes focused on the ground.

"You did all you could. You were responsible and didn't drink. You could've gotten hurt even worse if you had swerved. I know you're concerned about your friends, but you got hurt too, remember?"

"I know..."

"Uh, I don't really like to ask this but, uh, did the nurses say anything about your bruises?" I asked, tensely.

"No. I don't think they could distinguish them from the bruises I got in the accident. I guess they don't know where the majority of them came from."

"Riku..." I whispered.

"Don't feel bad for me, please."

"I can't help it. But, looking on the bright side, if the car accident hadn't happened, we might never have talked to each other again," I said, swinging gently back and forth and dragging my feet through the sand.

"Y-yeah. Why did you come and talk to me again?" he asked.

"I had to see if you were okay. You're still my friend, and I couldn't just sit there after I'd heard about the accident."

"I see. So, speaking of talking to each other again, are you serious about wanting to be together all the time?" the silver-haired boy asked.

"Yeah."

"We'd be together... as a couple... right?"

"Y-yeah. I mean, we'd have to start out slow... I-I've never been in a relationship before," I stuttered.

"Me neither. Not a real one, at least. I went out with some girls, but they were only after my looks. That was enough for me for a while, but then I started to realize that I wanted... something more. I wanted someone to love me for who I am."

"Well, don't worry. I care about you for who you are," I smiled.

"Are you afraid to say the 'L' word today?" he teased, giving me a smirk.

"N-no. O-okay, yeah, maybe a bit," I flushed.

"That's okay. It is a bit... awkward, especially when you consider all that's happened between us."

"Yeah, but, I've seen something deep in you that I don't think you knew existed inside you," I said.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" the older teen questioned.

"I've seen goodness and caring in you, Riku," I smiled, softly, unable to look into his eyes because my face felt so warm. Riku let out a light, content sigh and then spoke.

"I don't know where you found it, but you've proved to me that it's there."

"That's good." I stayed silent for a minute before speaking up again.

"Hey, Riku, I've been wanting to tell you something for a while, but I could never really find the right time."

"What is it?" he asked, flicking a piece of his silver hair out of his eyes.

"The reason why I lack, um, manly influences," I said, anxiously.

"Oh. Okay?"

"M-my dad left the family when I was only four or five years old. After that, my mom raised me on her own," I explained, staring at the ground.

"I-I'm sorry. I had no idea," Riku said.

"It's okay."

"It must have been hard for you and your mom."

"Well, yeah, a bit. But we manage okay. And we're really close, so it's not that bad. But what always hurt the most was not knowing why my dad left. And I... I always wondered if it was because of me..." I trailed off.

"Sora, I'm sure it wasn't because of you. Your parents could have been having problems that you weren't even aware of," Riku said.

"Maybe... But, my dad used to laugh and say that I wasn't very manly, and that I was more like my mom than I should have been."

"How manly can someone be at the age of four or five?" he asked, trying to cheer me up.

"Heh... I dunno. But I'll bet you were manly when you were little," I told him.

"Doubtful. But, regardless, I... always liked you just the way you were, and to tell you the truth, I didn't ever think you needed those masculinity lesssons to be liked," Riku confessed. I glanced up at him, embarrassedly and smiled.

"Thanks, Riku," I said, as he slipped off his shoes as well and dug his feet into the sand beside mine.

He then wrapped an arm around me, and I leaned in against him, feeling relaxed and safe, just as if I had come home to where I belonged.

It was the last week of school before exams would start. Riku and I had decided not to let our relationship go too far before school was over. For one thing, we didn't want everyone to find out about it yet, and secondly, the two of us had to focus on our schoolwork. But I was looking foward to spending the summer with Riku. I wanted to get to know him even better than I already did. It had felt so good to talk to him in the park that day, and I felt all of a sudden like I could tell him anything. He was the first person that I had ever really talked to about my father. Kairi and the other girls knew he had left, but they had no idea that I felt responsible for it. I was happy that I had finally found someone that I trusted enough to tell about that, and I was even happier that that someone was Riku.

Monday morning, I had gym class with Riku. I kept giving him shy smiles, and he would return them, but I held back as much as I could so our attraction to each other wouldn't be so obvious to the rest of the class. It felt good to see Riku looking healthy and content again, playing his favorite sport; soccer. Our gym teacher had gone to the office for a minute, but told us to keep the game going. Luckily, I wasn't the goalie this time, but Riku was still on the opposite team. Tidus, even though he was on my team, pushed me out of the way so he could get the ball from Riku. Riku dodged Tidus and started heading for my team's net. Seifer cheered from the bench since he was still too sore to play. Tidus then became more competative, and broke into an even faster run. He gained on Riku, who wasn't expecting it, and shoved him roughly to the side, stealing the ball. Angry hollars echoed in the gym.

"Not fair! No physical contact is allowed!" some of the class called out. Tidus rushed away from Riku, keeping the ball in his possession. Riku ran after the blonde, but I watched as he slowed down and finally came to a halt. I watched as he breathed shakily and with difficulty.

"Riku, maybe you should take it easy. The doctor said not to push yourself too hard," I called to him. Then he started coughing, and I figured he would be okay after a minute. But when he bent over with his hands on his knees, and continued to choke, I knew there was something wrong.

"Riku, are you okay?" I asked, walking cautiously over to him. He glanced up at me weakly and shook his head in response.

"Guys, help!" I yelled.

"What's wrong? What do you want us to do?" Raijin asked, giving up on running after Tidus and turning to me.

"Get help! I don't think he can breathe!" I shouted as I watched Riku struggle for air. My stomach tightened at the sight of him. I put a hand on his back and rubbed it, hoping it would help him catch his breath. But when it didn't, I put my arms underneath him to try to brace him.

"Riku?" I asked. He looked over his shoulder at me for a quick second before I felt him go limp. Immediately, I supported his weight and carefully lay his body down.

"He's passed out!" I panicked.

"I'll go get a nurse!" Pence yelled, disappearing quickly out of the gym.

"Is he going to be alright?" Seifer asked, getting up and joining the circle that had formed around Riku and I.

"Not if we don't do something," I said, urgently.

"Like what? What do we do?" Tidus asked.

"Mouth-to-mouth," one of the boys said so quietly that I couldn't even figure out which one had said it.

"Well...? Come on, then!!" I shouted. The boys exchanged glances and then looked back at me, incredulously.

"I'm not doing it," someone said.

"Me neither," said a few more.

"But, he could die-" I panicked. My stomach tightened even more. And even though this was the boy that most people thought I hated so much, and even though I was embarrassed, I waved my hands around in the air to make everyone back off.

"Oh, get out of the way!!" I ordered. I leaned down and pressed my lips against Riku's soft ones. Tears ran down my cheeks as I thought, I didn't expect my first kiss to be anything like this...

Not long after, I found myself feeling completely dazed and sitting in the waiting room at the hospital. Everything had happened so fast that I could barely remember any of it. I could hardly believe that Riku was back in this dreadful place right after getting out. Suddenly, the door to the doctor's room opened and I jumped up from my seat.

"How is he...?" I asked, my legs feeling quite shaky beneath me.

"He's going to be alright," the doctor answered.

"Oh, good," I sighed with relief and felt like I could have passed out. "What happened to him? Was it because he over-exerted himself right after being that car accident?"

"It is because of over-exertion, but it's not because of that. It's his cancer acting up." I paused and let the doctor's sentence register.

"Wait... What? Riku has what?!"

"He was diagnosed with lung cancer a few years back, caused by tobacco smoke," the doctor explained. My legs trembled beneath me. I clenched my fists. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't want to hear any more from the man in front of me. I didn't want to hear anyone try to comfort me. Everything made sense. Riku couldn't skateboard anymore because of his cancer, he looked sick in the bar because of all the smoke, he had gotten out of breath in the park, and now it affected him while playing soccer.

"How will I ever be able to trust anyone again?" I whispered.

"Pardon?"

"How?!" I shouted. Riku was unbelievable. The second I would begin to trust him, it seemed something would go wrong, and I would not, could not, stand for it again!

"You told me you didn't smoke... You told me that!!" I cried, even though I knew Riku couldn't hear me.

"You told me you didn't drink! You were probably lying about that too!!"

"Sora-" the doctor spoke, but I cast him a silencing look. I shot a glance through the open door, at the sleeping silver-haired boy, and clenched my fists even tighter together. Everything was about to fall apart again. Every word we had spoken to each other at the park, every special moment we had spent with each other, all of it now seemed like a lie.

"I... I HATE YOU, RIKU!!" I screamed, before turning and running. And I couldn't help but wonder if my eyes had been playing tricks on me, for it seemed like Riku's eyes had flickered open just as I had said those words.

A/N : ...All I have to say is, I warned you it wouldn't stay happy forever. But please, stick with me to the end. Only one more chapter to go. Thanks reviewers and readers, once again.