Everyone, I'm sorry to have to say this while also being relieved at the same time - this is the last chapter to this story. This story will officially be over once you read it and review it for the last time. Sorry but I think it's time this ended before it gets boring or stupid sounding. My new Kingdom Hearts story will be on soon once I'm finished perfecting the first chapter so it can be read. If youu want secret before-it's-posted details on my new story feel free to visit my profile where somewhere towards the middle of the page is a small bit about a story called 'Without You Around' which is the title of the soon to be released story I'm writing.
Please review this chapter seeing as it's my last one for this story and you'll never get to comment about this story again. No flames thank you very much! If you want to flame this story do it secretly to a friend because I don't want to here it thank you very much. Reviews make me happy, and the longer the review the hapier I am if you get what I'm saying.
On with the show.. (sniffs sadly) for the last time under this title! I can't bear to say it! OMG it's actually gonna be over! (breaks down completely and has to be conforted and hugged repeatedly by her best friend Brandon and the other characters of this story)
Chapter 11
"God, it took you guys long enough to get here! Where'd you come from, Sweden? Roxie here was just about to walk out of here and let you guys show up and no one be here to meet you!" Axel called loudly through the crowded coffee shop, smiling as Sora and I made our way slowly across the room to their table with our tall steaming Styrofoam cups – a white chocolate mocha cappuccino for me and a caramel macchiato for soon-to-be-hyper Sora. There goes all my money… wave goodbye to it before it disappears into the sunset on a white horse like in those cheesy movies… except money doesn't ride horses usually, it gets locked in a cold metal box called a cash register instead. Oh well, Sora was well worth it. "You know where ever Roxie goes I go too, so be glad you got here when you did!"
"Oh we're just so glad Axel, really glad believe me." Sora said sighing obviously and sarcastically enough for a deaf and blind person to know what was going on but no one except me noticed how odd he was acting. Of course it would go right over Axel's thick head, but I figured Roxas would have noticed at least. Roxas however was too wrapped up in his coffee and checking out his own boyfriend to notice anything suspicious going on. I elbowed Sora hard in the ribs and almost caused him to drop his drink, which wouldn't be a good idea. This particular Starbucks just so happened to be where Aerith worked as I had just found out when she turned around and smiled prettily from behind the Starbucks' counter and took the last of my reserve of cash to spend like a lunatic for Sora's coffee and mine.
She had seemed strangely happy to see me for some reason and it had confused me immensely at first – until she had started talking to me of course. ALL SHE TALKED ABOUT OR WANTED TO TALK ABOUT WAS MY OLDER BROTHER CLOUD! She wanted to know how Cloud was doing and if he missed her as much as she missed him and all that sentimental mumbo-jumbo. I had to let her down gently explaining that Cloud was seeing someone else now – without mentioning the fact that it was Sora's older brother because she seemed rather depressed by the idea of Cloud seeing someone other than her. She said she understood it after refusing to kiss him even if she didn't like it. At least she wasn't suffering under the delusion that Cloud was willing to wait around forever for her to be ready to love him anymore. Poor girl, poor pitiful little loveless Aerith in her pink dress and a matching pink bow in her hair long brown hair that looked like it was attacking her head.
Back to the present before I start snoring over old news and my memories come back to haunt me again. Cloud was so over Aerith and she would just have to get over him even if it took her that 'forever' she was planning on making HIM wait through before she was ready for a relationship with him. Obviously her plans had all fallen through to crash and burn. And I'm guessing it was a pretty big explosion by the depressed look she gave me before I took our coffees from her.
"So what's up guys?" Roxas asked as he plopped himself down in Axel's lap to twirl a bit of his boyfriend's flaming hair around his finger as he sipped the drink held in his other hand. "I haven't seen you in forever Sora, and this is I believe the second or third time I've seen you Riku. My wonderful track record of keeping up with my friends I know is abysmal, but when you have a sexy boyfriend like Axel you don't have much time for anything else really."
"What other things would you need besides me?" Axel smiled down on Roxas as he kissed his neck softly as Roxas giggled in delight just like Sora did when I kissed his neck. Beside me, Sora squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. "Hey Sora is something wrong? You look a little upset."
"Yeah Axel, something is wrong." Sora sighed realizing it was time to give in, let the cat out of the bag, tell Roxas everything and make his peace with his restlessly guilty conscious. "Axel, do you remember that one thing you made me swear never to tell anyone about or else you'd get your lighter out and catch my pants on fire?"
"Um…" Axel stuttered looking stricken. He remembered all right, he MUST have by the way his face was changing under my unforgiving steady glare. His cheeks turned the same shade of blood red as his hair as he gave Sora a rather nasty look and continued. "Why bring it up unless you really want your pants caught on fire – among other things if you catch my drift Sora."
"What are you guys talking about Axel?" Roxas asked extremely confused by the friction occurring between his boy toy and my brave little spiky haired Sora. "Don't I know? How come Sora gets to know and I don't?"
"That's why we're here Roxas." I said suddenly reminding them I was there too seeing as they all seemed to have forgotten I was there listening in on their conversations.
"What do you mean that's why you two are here?" Axel asked sounding extremely worried. I smiled widely at him making him even more suspicious – at least that's what I gathered from the look he gave me. "What do you mean that's why you're here? Someone explain what's going on to me."
"Roxas, I've been hiding something from you." Sora said reaching across the table to take Roxas' hand in his own in a friendly way to show he cared. Roxas looked perplexed but didn't say anything for once. Roxas just nodded solemnly from across the table and kept his mouth shut tight so Sora could continue. "And I think it's time I told you the truth, time that WE told you the truth. You deserve to know what happened."
"Who's the 'we' Sora, do you mean you and Riku?" Roxas asked uncertainly looking from Sora's face, to mine and then at Axel's – which by the expression written on it Axel might have been repressing the urge to vomit all over the table and everyone seated around it.
"Roxas I know you probably won't like to hear it but please try and listen to Sora, okay? Sora's doing this because he cares about you as a friend, so don't be too hard on him." I prompted him urgently before Sora could tell him anything of actual importance. Anything I could do to help Sora get through this without actually doing it for him or punching Axel in his smug face like my fist was urging to do because of the nasty looks Axel kept throwing at Sora.
"Um, okay Riku. Sora's my friend so it can't be too terrible." Roxas smiled at Sora who didn't return it but instead looked at the floor sorrowfully. "What do you have to tell me Sora?"
"Do you remember the night when Namine told me about Leon and her and broke it off with me so I called Axel to come pick me up?" Sora asked hesitantly and Roxas nodded looking more confused than he already did. That night must not have been something they often talked about. "Well that night, Axel and I sort of –"
"Stop Sora, just shut up already because Roxas doesn't need to hear this right now after we just became so much closer to each other recently. He's perfectly happy not knowing about that one measly little night anyways!" Axel shouted almost overturning the table he stood up so quickly in his haste to end the conversation before any more could be said on the subject. He looked flustered and upset which made me wonder if Sora and I were doing the right thing by telling Roxas the truth. I thought he was going to cry. I sort of wanted Axel to cry, if he cried I had perfect rights to point at him and laugh cruelly while calling him a wimp.
"Roxas needs to know Axel; he's bound to find out sooner or later anyways." Sora sighed as he looked sadly up at Axel's nervously twitching face.
"No he won't, not if you keep your fat mouth shut you idiot!" Axel shouted again. I suddenly felt all my pity for Axel and the position we had put him in disappearing in that instant when he yelled at my Sora like that. That fucking cheater could go to hell for all I cared. All eyes were on us now, all the employees and customers staring at us like we were a mildly interesting television soap opera. "Unlike you I'm not dumb enough to tell him about it! What were you thinking you moron?"
"Hey Axel, stop picking on Sora for trying to do the right thing unlike you who thinks it's the right thing to hide something like this from your own boyfriend." I said from where I still sat gulping my drink hurriedly before Axel freaked out or completely lost his nerve and started smashing heads together and spilling drinks all over the polished wooden floor.
"I'll pick on whoever I want to, you're just as bad as he is you brownnoser!" Axel sputtered as he pointed a shaking finger at me. Axel was beginning to panic now, willing to place the blame off on anyone else but himself even though he knew this was his problem that he had caused on his own. "Sora, you are such a weak bitch, letting your conscious get the better of you, letting yourself become Riku's bitch like this! I always knew you were just a weak little child! Namine was right to go after Leon instead of you, she knew what she wanted. She wanted a man, not a little bitchy whiney boy who couldn't do anything for her but smiled and look stupid."
Sora gasped as tears sprang up in his eyes at Axel's comments. All it took was one look at Sora's face and I lost it… and I completely snapped and let loose on Axel.
"Shut the hell up you psychotic asshole!" I yelled at Axel, standing up to glare at him as I banged my fist down on the table. He looked taken aback by my outburst but that wasn't enough to stop me just yet. Striding around the table I went right up to Axel and punched him hard in the nose so blood spurted out all over the floor at his feet.
Not really. I wish I could have, but there were people watching us and if I threw the first punch the police would be all over me if someone called the cops to come break up the potential fight brewing between Axel and myself. Instead I contented myself by throwing insults back in forth with Axel across the table as Roxas looked between us confused and anxious. He still didn't know what was going on, but what was worse was by now he understood one thing – he had been left out of the loop and big time.
"Asshole who has nothing better to do than ruin other people's lives!"
"Underachieving jackass idiot gay-wad who doesn't have two brain cells to rub together!"
"Whore with like a million different STD's!"
"Oh yeah, like you can really talk you sex-crazed maniac!"
"Take that back right now God damn it!"
"THAT'S IT! BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP FOR A MOMENT SO I CAN TALK TO ROXAS GOD DAMN IT!" Sora shouted over Axel and my combined voices as we shouted various cuss words and vicious insults to walk right up to Roxas, place a hand on Roxas shoulder, looked him right in the eyes and said: "Roxas, when Namine broke up with me Axel took me back to his place, got me terribly drunk so that I wouldn't be able to remember anything the next day and had sex with me. I'm sorry but he made me swear never to tell you or he'd catch my pants on fire with me still in them. Please forgive me Roxas; I didn't want to do that at all."
The whole restaurant went silent as a graveyard without the devilish little crickets. Or the ghosts with the clunky rusty chains that rattle in the wind when they walked the Earth in their after life. Roxas just looked at Sora, pulling away from him in disgust. But for once he didn't look to Axel for comfort or protection. Instead he walked right up to Axel and smacked him across the face before grabbing his drink and storming out of the shop leaving Axel behind looking petrified by what had just happened to him.
"Sora, let's go, you did what you came to do." I said softly to him and he nodded sadly taking my hand, not looking at me as we left the shop together as he laced his fingers with mine. I stopped in the door and looked back on the chaos that we had helped create and then left for someone else to pick up. The Starbucks employees where trying to get things under control, the customers where attempting to go back to their brand name coffee buying and consuming without thinking about what had just happened, and then there was Axel. He was slumped back into his chair, his face in his hands.
He was crying, his shoulders shuddering as he sobbed into his trembling hands. I almost felt sorry for him, but then again he had brought this on himself after all. He deserved it, this pain was nothing compared to the pain Sora had felt from the guilt Axel had left him to deal with. Or Roxas… oh my God! I couldn't even imagine the pain that poor guy must be feeling right now after how much he loved Axel just to find Axel had gotten his best friend drunk and basically raped him while he was dazed and confused.
"Riku, please help me." Sora moaned into my ear softly right before his knees gave out on him and he started to fall to the ground slowly. I managed to catch him before he hit the ground but that didn't stop the tears or the strangled sorrowful sounds. Sora was sobbing openly now that we had left the crowded Starbucks and he could cry as much as he wanted without as many people staring at him like he was a freak or something like that. I helped Sora stand back up and stung his arm around my shoulders to help him back to my car so I could take him someplace where we could be alone and he could calm down. And I had the perfect place in mind – the private party barn. "I feel so terrible for poor Roxas and how he must be feeling right now because of me. It's my fault for not telling him sooner than this and in a less public place."
"No Sora, it's not your fault at all. It's Axel's fault for getting you drunk and then having his way with you like he did that night even though he had a boyfriend who adored him like he was the greatest thing since orange juice. It's Axel's fault for threatening to catch your pants on fire if you told anyone about what he did to you. It's Axel's fault for not telling his own boyfriend who he's supposed to love that he had sex with one of their best friends." I told Sora as I sat him down in the passenger seat of my car and pulled the seat belt over him seeing as he seemed unable to function properly at the moment. "Let's not talk about it any more now Sora, there's nothing else we can do about it. It's done now and you never have to feel guilty about it again."
"You're right again Riku, you're always right aren't you?" Sora asked giggling a little to himself as he dried his tears on the back of his sleeve. I climbed into the car and smiled at him as I pulled out of the mall parking lot and drove for the countryside where Sora's barn was situated. "Where are you kidnapping me to now Riku?"
"To the private party barn own by you of course Sora." I said happily as I pulled up in front of the bright red barn we had once made out passionately in only to be caught by… never mind. I swore I wouldn't think about them right now, this was to cheer Sora up not depress him even more by reminding him of the two people he had just cried over. "Let's throw a party Sora, you and me and the party barn. All we need is a phone book and my cell phone, what do you say?"
"I don't know Riku, no one's ever been to the barn before and I don't want it trashed or anything." Sora said slowly. I could tell he liked the idea of a party to lift his spirits but without having to do the work – which I was willing to do for him of course. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't do it for him when he didn't want to?
"What if I did all the cleaning up?" I prompted trying to make Sora give in and let me throw a party. "Just our closer friends, like Zell and Selphie and all them. Not just random people I look up out of the phonebook even though that does sound terribly fun. We can do that another time."
"Then why do we need a phone book if it's only our close friends that you're inviting?" Sora asked slightly confused by the tone his voice had taken.
"I don't know anyone's phone number from around here yet, remember?" I sighed. Sometimes Sora could be so dense but that's why he has me around all the time I suppose. I'm here for when he's being too dense or acting ditz-ish-ly girly-like to do anything for himself that he has to do.
"Well I know everyone's number's Riku don't worry about that. No need for a phonebook now I guess. We can just use me." Sora smiled climbing out of the car to stand beside it looking down through the windshield at me with a look of gratitude for coming up with the party idea when he knew it was only to cheer him up. But that look soon turned to a look of extreme annoyance the longer I stared back at him until he finally singed and spelled out the problem for me. "Well come on if you wanna do this we need to get started or we'll never get done in time for everyone to get here before it's time from them to go home back where they belong."
"Now we're talking!" I grinned, climbing out of the car the easy way – through the open rolled down window using my upper body strength to pull myself up and out of the car just like on Dukes of Hazard. I had watched the old television shows a thousand times before and owned a copy of the movie they had made with superstars that included none other than Jessica Simpson… I must say I prefer Bo and Luke to Daisy but maybe that's just me. "Well Sora you just tell me what needs to be done and I'll do it. Let's get this show on the road already! It's party time – or it will be if we ever get this place ready anyway! But before that, do you wanna know something funny?"
"Of course I do, funny is my favorite past time." Sora said as we walked hand in hand to the barn. "What happened now?"
"I caught Sephiroth making out with someone at the park on my way back to meet you at the bench." I said leaving out all the details to torture him slowly until he burst out in rage and demanded I tell him the cuprit. "Fine, I'll tell you. My ex-boyfriend Brandon."
"Oh my God, that's funny!" Sora laughed slipping down to sit on the ground from laughing so hard. "Oh so funny! Ouch, my poor spleen, you've killed my spleen with your funny news development! Oh Riku how could you?"
"Hey, I'm just the messanger. I don't make the news I just deliver it thank you very much." I smiled as I helped him up off the ground. "Let's do this."
"Yeah!" Sora yelled enthusiastically jumping up and down as he opened the barn doors for me. "Let's get this party started!
()()()()()() Roughly an hour and a half later()()()()()()
"Great, see you then Yuffie my dove!" Sora practically sang into the speaker of my cell phone as he turned it off after making numerous calls over the last hour so that I didn't even want to think about what Mom was going to say when she got the cell phone bill. I set everything up how Sora had asked – instructed me more like – to before he had gotten on the phone to invite everyone to the party while still managing to yell more instructions in between calls because he's just that talented. "Everyone should be here in a few minutes Riku, is everything set up and ready to be reviewed for the grand opening of the party barn that hardly anyone knew about? It is ready yet right, because we don't have much time left Riku."
"Yeah it's all ready for them to arrive and witness the grand revealing of its first party and such." I smiled coming up behind him slowly so he wouldn't notice me wrapping my arms around his waist and kiss his neck lightly. I didn't pull away from my desirable pleasure-filled-for-both-of-us attack on Sora's neck until we heard the knocking on the barn door that had just erupted from outside. Obviously our party guests were here and ready for the party to begin by the way they were attempting to break down the locked and bolted doors.
"I'm coming, keep your pants on please! I don't want to see anything like that from any of you all thank you." Sora shouted through the wood of the door as he wiggled his way out of my arms and over to the door to unlock it and let them come inside. Almost at once a swarm of people came spilling inside the barn door carrying everything from bags of chips, to bottles of pop, to each other in the case of Kairi who was being carried by wonderfully old-fashioned-romance-book-type-of-guy Hayner because she had twisted her ankle badly and he had refused to let her walk across the bumpy-rocky-uneven land from her car to the barn without being carried inside. Hayner, after he had set Kairi down gently inside the door with Pence and Olette right behind him following his lead immediately ran over to the stereo system and became the unofficial disk jockey for the night as Tidus' older brother Zell and Selphie in all their adorable-couple-ness went and stood over by the punchbowl that Kairi had generously supplied for the event along with a gallon or so of her grandmother's homemade sherbet-and-juice-like-stuff-punch. Kairi meanwhile was deep in conversation with a very hyper dancing-in-her-spot-so-she-could-talk-at-the-same-time Yuffie, a happy punch-drinking Tifa, and hyper-and-bitchy-looking-because-she-hadn't-come-with-a-date Larxene as Kairi's-bitch-of-a-sister-who-I-know-hadn't-been-invited-but-Kairi-had-been-too-kind-to-leave-at-home-all-alone-because-she-wasn't-wanted-around sat silently on one of the rungs of the ladder to the hay loft where Sora and I had once made out, drawing in her sketchbook yet again as she looked around at all the couples dancing in the center of the barn which had become the dance floor for the night. Currently the loft was occupied by the lesbian couple (if couples can contain three people anyways) consisting of Yuna, Paine, and Rikku though what they were actually doing up there was a mystery to me and everyone else. And no one would be checking on them any time soon by the look of things. Seifer, Rai, and Fuu had shown up uninvited and were messing with Demyx and Zexion who seemed rather unconcerned by the fact that they were getting bullied simply because they were too busy looking deeply into each other's eyes and saying how much they loved one another to even hear what Seifer was saying to them.
"Hey Riku my dear wonderful little party-thrower you! Imagine seeing you here at the party you're throwing with you boyfriend! Will we ever stop running into each other like this?" Fae called joyously as she flung an arm around my shoulders as she messed up my hair with the other making Sora snicker behind his hands at me. I had called Fae to invite her to the party because Sora was too nervous about having to listen to her hyper-active-ness about being invited to a party to call her himself. And he didn't have Fae's cell phone number like I did, not that I had called her phone once she had moved away.
"So how are things with your terrific boyfriend who wants to kill me, meaning Mr. Wakka of course?" I asked her expecting for her to start talking happily like she always did when someone prompted her about her current boyfriend. Fae always loved talking about her current love or relationships and she always would it. But not today apparently by the heartbroken and miserable look that slid on her face as I said Wakka's name.
"Oh, I broke up with Wakka after he threatened you like that. I don't want to be with someone who wants to kill my best buddy in whole wide world." Fae explained as she gave me a gigantic hug around the middle that left me unable to breath. "Wakka won't be coming so don't worry about him showing up and ruining things."
"How do you know he won't show up?" Sora asked Fae. He seemed glad that Fae was here even if he had only met her once I could tell that Sora and he were going to be great friends.
"I made sure he wouldn't show up by tying his hands together with my scarf and shoving him in the supply closet up at the park and locked the doors." Fae smiled as she walked away calling back to us as she walked over onto the dance floor after Tidus at who's back she pointed a long finger. "Anyways, the blonde hottie right there is so much better for me and HE can actually dance unlike Wakka who has two left feet. Wish me luck Riku!"
"Good luck with Tidus, Fae!" I laughed as Sora fell against me in a fit of giggles. "Sometimes I can't believe her and the way she acts. She's crazy, but in a good way you know? She's always going after a guy."
"Hey Riku, can I talk to you a second?" A voice behind me asked. I turned and was met face to face with Sephiroth. I nodded and followed him outside to his car where he finally stopped and turned back to me. "We need to talk Riku."
"Talk about what Sephiroth?" I asked honestly not sure what this could be about.
"About what you saw at the park." Sephiroth said uncomfortably. "Look, he kissed me first and I liked it so I kissed him back and things just got out of hand you know? I just really like him. Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not mad Seph really I'm not. I never was mad about it, it just weird-ed me out a little so suddenly stumble across you two making out. You're a pretty unlikely couple you know?" I explained feeling his tension melting away. "So where is he now?"
"Inside somewhere I think. He came with me but I don't know where he went." Sephiroth shrugged before smiling and holding out a hand to me. "Bros before hoes Riku and don't you ever forget it!"
(A/N: Yes, I stole that from Mike Boogey off of Big Brother!)
"Yeah Sephiroth, unless we're talking about Sora and me of course." I sneered at him as I smacked his hand. "Just kidding, family will always come first, you know that."
"Well that's settled then, it was a lot smoother than I thought it would be to tell the truth. I imagined something that involved you calling me a slut for kissing your ex-boyfriend." Sephiroth said bitterly as he shivered. I shivered too as the wind blew around me and into my face. "Let's go back inside it's a little chilly out here."
"Alright Seph." I smiled as he led me back inside and over to Sora who looked rather glad to see me – and looking at the scene behind him I realized why at once. Rinoa and Namine had walked over to Cloud and Leon and were shouting at them at the top of their lungs as the two boys tried to back away slowly while Aerith watched Cloud from the shadows lingering around a corner while looking terrible distraught. Sephiroth and I ran over to them and broke up the fight as best as we could under the circumstances without getting the three furious girls angry with us as well. Aerith had walked over to Cloud and said a small goodbye to him before leaving the party completely. Tifa made her way over to the sobbing Rinoa and spoke softly in her ear; eventually they went off together arm in arm with tears running slowly down Rinoa's face as Tifa walked her over to the couch and collapsed on the unoccupied couch together to talk until Rinoa calmed down. Namine however stood still and started crying her eyes out wailing loudly until Sephiroth pulled her into his arms to comfort her at which point Brandon suddenly appeared.
"What the hell are you doing holding HER like that when you're here with me Sephy my love?" Brandon asked jealously as Namine thanked Sephiroth and walked away towards the doors that led outside. Brandon tapped his foot angrily waiting for an answer fro my older and quite stupid, or so it seemed to me most of the time when he was around me, brother Sephiroth.
"What can I say darlin'? I just really like blondes Brandon." Sephiroth joked, elbowing Brandon in the side sweetly. Brandon was not amused in the least bit by the joke. "I'm just kidding with you Brandi dear, she just needed someone to hold her and make her feel better. Wanna ditch this Popsicle stand and go out for a pizza or something?"
"Aw, but the party just started! Let's stay a little longer Sephy, please?" Brandon whined as he pulled on Sephiroth's sleeve and led him out onto the dance floor to waltz around the other couples. Looking passed them I saw something rather interesting – Tifa and Rinoa making out like crazy and thrashing around on the couch. I poked Sora in the ribs and pointed this out to him and he burst out laughing so hard he had to sit down on the ground to catch his breath. What was it with this town and unlikely couples?
"That was a close one." Leon sighed as he ran a hand through his hair distractedly. "Thanks a lot for that Riku that could have gotten pretty ugly really fast if you hadn't stepped in when you did, Rinoa can get scary when she's angry like that."
"No problem Leon, anytime." I said happily, it so was great to be getting along with Leon for once without having to sneak Sora around to be with him or hide from Leon for fear of being beaten to a pulp. For all I knew for certain, Leon could just have been being nice to me to make Cloud like him. Which is wrong and considered 'using me to get what he wants' but I didn't care. As long as it kept him from punching me or forcing me away from Sora's side where I felt I truly belonged then I was fine with it. Though being civil with each other or being friends would be nice too because it meant less work for both of us. "Well, not any time of course but maybe every once in a while is fine. I kind of have this sexy and time consuming boyfriend who needs me around him at all times if you know what I mean, so I can only come save your ass from annoyed girls who want ot kill you when I'm not already needed by my hunk of a boyfriend."
"Yeah, thanks for the help little bro." Cloud said softly in my ear from behind me. I turned to him to see Leon's strong arms wrapped around Cloud's waist the exact same why I had often held Sora and I smiled at him. "Before you say it Riku, it wasn't 'nothing'. That was indeed something to me at least."
"Thanks Cloud, but you'd do the safe for me." I smiled at him as he ruffled my hair with his fee hand not holding onto Leon's hand already. I was always gonna have my hair ruffed by him and Sephiroth just as I was always gonna be their younger brother. Life was just like that sometimes I guess. "Have fun at the party okay?"
"I will." Cloud said happily as he smirked back at Leon who raised an eyebrow at him as Cloud grabbed him hand and led him away towards the hay loft. Boy I hope Yuna and they were finished up there or we might have more screaming on our hands.
"Hey Riku, mind if I ask you something real quick?" It was the short blonde guy Tidus from that day at the movie theater when we had all met up on accident and ended up spending the day together and telling embarrassing stories in a restaurant until we nearly wet ourselves from laughing so hard. I nodded and he continued immediately in a low voice so Sora and the various dancing people around us couldn't overhear him. "Who's that tall brown haired chick that keeps following me around the dance floor? I sorta watched her a little closer after I realized she was following me and overheard her conversation with Yuffie and Kairi and the other girls in that group. I kind of like her, she seems really cool and funny and nice and a blast to be around and on top of it all she's a hell of a good dancer too."
"Her name is Fae, she's Brandon's older sister if you know who Brandon is anyways." I whispered back to Tidus just as Fae made her way across the room to us and stopped in front of me with a glass of punch held in her hand. "Hey Fae, how do you like the party?"
"I love it Riku, it's the bomb!" Fae smiled happily as she looked Tidus up and down. Tidus gulped and looked at me clearly asking me what to do now while Fae drained her glass in one gulp. "I'm going to get some more punch, be right back you two. Stay right here okay?"
"Riku, you know her best. What should I do?" Tidus asked me hurriedly as Fae walked over to the punchbowl where Zell and Selphie had stood some time earlier but was now being occupied by a very sulky Rai all on his own for once while Fuu slow danced around the floor with Seifer. Zell and Selphie were out dancing as well, trying while doing so to stay as far away from Seifer and Fuu as possible. "I really need your help Riku. What would you suggest I do to get here to like me and to get her attention?"
"Ask her to dance and I'll get Hayner to play another slow song just for the occasion okay?" I told him before having a whispered conversation with Hayner to get him to play Tidus a slow song just so he could dance with Fae. Tidus looked stricken by my idea but nodded his head as he looked over at Fae as she stood laughing with Sephiroth and joking with her younger brother Brandon, Tidus's face set with determination. "You ready for this then? Because here she comes now so don't screw up this one chance you've got with her okay? Do your worst Tidus, break a leg out there!"
"Hey guys, sorry about that but Sephiroth told me a really funny joke. Do you wanna hear it?" Fae asked us happily. I nodded and Tidus just looked at her like she was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen in his whole entire life. "What's the difference between an intelligent boy and a UFO?"
"I don't know, what's the difference between the two Fae?" I asked her as Tidus continued to stare at her. I could just tell this was going to be one of those boy-put-down jokes by the way she had sniggered at me as she replayed the joke to us that she had heard from my older brother. I was so going to have a serious talk with Sephiroth about what he said when Fae was around and to stop putting down the male race of which he was a part of and on top of that little footnote – he was dating one of the male race as well as being part of it so he had no room to talk.
"I have no idea what the difference is, I haven't seen either one yet!" Fae burst out laughing as she spit out the punch line. She laughed so hard I thought punch was going to come out of her nose and spray down the front of Tidus and me. I seriously considered hiding behind Tidus and using him like a shield for a moment. "Isn't that funny Tidus?"
"How did you know my name?" Tidus asked a little shocked that his angel knew his name already. "I don't think I've ever talked to you before."
"Oh, I saw you walking around earlier and asked Riku what your name was." Fae said smiling at him. "So what's up?"
"Dance me with you will?" Tidus said in such a rush that the words cam out in the wrong order. He flushed in embarrassment and looked at the ceiling as I stifled my giggles in order to be a kind caring friend to Tidus which required not laughing at his mistake I suppose.
"What?" Fae asked a little confused. "Could you say that again Tidus?"
"W-will you d-dance with me Fae, p-please?" Tidus stuttered as he attempted to look her right in the eyes and ask her. Bad move, never look someone right in the eyes that you're crushing on because it tends to make people even more nervous than they already were. "I wanted to know if you'd dance with me."
"Tidus, I can't believe you just asked me that!" Fae cried indignantly making Tidus go red and look away miserably. As the desperately sad Tidus went to walk away from us, Fae reached out and grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around and look into her highly intimidating eyes again. "I'M always the one to ask people to dance! Man, you beat me to it!"
"You actually want to dance with me then Fae?" Tidus asked sounding extremely shocked.
"Of course I do! Come on!" Fae said dragging Tidus out onto the dance floor and pulled him into her arms to dance close to him. Tidus looked positively thrilled to be so close to Fae, while Fae looked happily hyper as all get out to be dancing with the most resent object of her desires – Tidus.
"Oh my God, Riku look who just showed up!" Sora sqeaked as he moved to hide behind me pointing over my shoulder at the barn doors. There stood a very harashed looking Axel and an extremely happy-looking Roxas which made no sense to me but it's not my emoitions so I can't control them. Roxas spotted us and began walking over with Axel in tow, rather reluctantly I might add. "Roxas, Axel, what are you guys doing here?"
"I just wanted to drop by and thank you fro what you did Sora." Roxas said seriously as he wrapped his arms around Sora's neck and pulled him close for a friendly hug that none the less upset both Axel and I. "I didn't mean to storm out on you like that but U just needed to be alone to think things over is all. Forgive me for being an uncaring ass?"
"Of course Roxas, I'm so happy you don't hate me!" Sora cried as he once again shot a hole in my heart by hugging Roxas around the neck causing Axel to wince in the same pain I was feeling at seeing them hug each other like that. Even if there was nothing between them and it meant nothing to either of them it was still not fair to either of us when our boufriends could be hugging US... but oh no, they hug each other instead. Figures as much, irony is a bitch sometimes.
"I'm sorry too Sora, I never should have done that to you or forced you to keep it a secret from Roxas likeI did." Axel said stepping forward. I was seriously surpised - he sounded so truthfuully innocent when he said it like he acutally meant it. Maybe he did mean it then, maybe he wasn't just pulling our legs. "Roxie here came back to Starbucks and talked it out with me and I said I was sorry for everything and he finally forgave me on one condition."
"What was the condition?" I asked in my little curious way of wanting to know things no matter who it was about or who it concerned.
"I have to do anything he tells me to from the next three months no matter how ridiculous it seems or how embarrassing it is." Axel smiled looking thrilled. Oh I wonder what he was thinking about. Not.
"Axel dear, I wanna dance come on." Roxas commanded happily tugging on Axel's hand. Axel sighed and followed Roxas out onto the dance floor just as Tidus had followed Fae only moments before hand. Sora began to get inpatient with me not paying attention to him so he decided to pull a stunt to get my attention. His sutunt just so happened to be jumping up on my back and covering my eyes with his hands.
"Riku, can we slip off and do something fun now?" Sora moaned behind me as he wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me closer to him as he slid down off my back and kissed my long shimmering silver hair softly.
"Oh yes, let's do that Sora." I beamed at him mischievously as I led him up to the hay loft which was being rented out at the moment apparently seeing as we had to send Cloud and Leon down by saying that Sephiroth needed someone do help him down in the main room of the barn to help break up a major fight. "So now that we have the hay loft to ourselves what do you wanna do now? Any ideas you wanna try Sora or do I have to think up everything on my own again just like last time?"
"You can think it up on your own again. I just want to be present for it okay?" Sora smiled from my arms as he twisted a lock of my hair around his finger. He kissed me then, pulling me down on top of him until our bodies went crashing into each other and I could feel the warmth radiating off his body through our clothes so that my chilled flesh felt suddenly much warmer than it had a second ago. "You okay with that plan then Riku?"
"God, if you keep kissing me like that I'll do anything you me to want Sora!" I groaned into his mouth as he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it over against the wall by the window instead of down over the edge of the railing like he had the last time we were together up in the hay loft because it anything fell over the edge of the railing this time everyone was dancing below us and it would be very difficult indeed to get out clothes back without someone noticing. "We can't do anything too risky and we can't go all the way right now."
"Why not, don't you want to Riku?" Sora asked me a little disappointed. Apparently he wanted me just as much as I wanted him but even so I knew we couldn't.
"We're at a party we're throwing with lots of people dancing under us. How would you like it if say Kairi caught us doing something questionable up here? Or even worse than one of our friends – what if Leon came up here and caught us at it, that would be absolutely terrible."
"I guess you're right Riku. You know everything don't you?" Sora joked as he reached for his shirt and pulling it up over his head. "Can we keep kissing though? I like that bit and it's not risky, just about everyone here he seen us kiss before. Please Riku, kiss me."
"Anything for you Sora." I smiled capturing his mouth with mine again until I left us both panting for breath and slightly happier than when we had climbed the ladder to the hay loft some minutes ago.
"So how were your first few days here then?" Sora asked through gasps of air as he stroked my hair softly.
"You know what Sora?" I smiled at him truthfully as I laid my head down on his chest so I could listen to his heartbeat. "I think I'm gonna like living here."
It's all over now. This was it, the ending, the resolution of most if not all of Riku's problems in his new home.