Summary: Lea knew his small mannerisms and knew what type of coffee he ordered every day. But he didn't know his name. They would soon learn the art of slowly falling in love even if it was wrong. Lea/Riku coffee shop AU
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts!
A.N.: Night guys, I move in early tomorrow. Trying to hurry to get this chapter in before I start school.
It was New Year's Eve and Lea was currently standing in front of the mirror, trying to pose confidently in his outfit.
It was the day of the New Year's party where he would see Riku. He wanted to look his best and cause the male to profusely blush when he saw Lea "spiffied up".. And strangely, he wanted this to all happen in front of Sora. Tonight, Lea would indirectly show the brunette he made Riku much happier than he did.
Lea didn't know where this possessiveness came from, but a persistent honking outside teared him from his spot. He ran right out his door to see Naminé going button happy with her buggy's car horn.
"I'm coming, I'm coming sheesh!" Lea called as he jogged to her car, getting inside the small vehicle. "Some people just can't wait."
"Well, I want to get there while my hair is looking this perfect," Naminé giggled, driving off before Lea even had a chance to strap on his seatbelt. The redhead sunk into his seat from the sudden velocity, quickly fumbling for his seatbelt before he died in the car with a hasty blonde.
Several more near death experiences on the road later, Lea breathed slowly as he exited the car. Never again was he stepping inside the same car with Naminé when she was in an excited hurry.
"Come on, come on!" Naminé squealed as she ran up beside the male out of nowhere, hurrying him to the house's front door. Lea inwardly groaned as he saw the amount of people inside through the glass door. It was even left unlocked as an easy and pleasant welcome for the guests. But, that only meant Lea couldn't shrink and sneak in unnoticed like he hoped.
He earned the attention of a certain brunette who smiled as the two walked in. "Naminé! Lea! It's very nice to see you guys again," Sora said with a smile. Without skipping a beat, the short smiling male motioned a hand over for a magenta haired girl and a blonde boy to come over.
Naminé was just as bubbly as the group was introduced. Lea didn't feel the need to talk since the blonde did all the talking. He only caught their names briefly, Kairi and Roxas. He didn't pay much attention to anything else since his focus was on trying to find Riku.
Lea saw tables full of food, snacks, and punch. There was even upbeat music playing where there were some people dancing on the open floor. In a corner of what seemed to be the living room, there was a television playing the news channel that was now live right in front of the New Year's Ball.
As his eyes wandered around the building, he realized this really wasn't just a "house". The size was in between a regular home and a mansion. There was even a set of stairs for the second floor and Lea wondered why there would be a need for so much space.
What disturbed him however was that this house was big and Riku would be more alone than ever if he got married. But the silverette chose to be with him, so Lea didn't have to worry about that.
Lea's eyes finally stopped again at the top of the stairs. Riku...
The silver haired customer walked down in what seemed to be in slow motion. The noises from the party drowned into silence until Lea's own heartbeat pounded strongly in his ear. Riku's eyes stared right at him, freezing him to his spot. His smile made his heart melt like butter on a pan.
"Riku, come here!" Sora's voice penetrated Lea's focus on the attractive male. The noises from the party came back on full volume as Lea shook his head violently.
Riku galloped down the stairs slowly. He joined their small forming group, running his fingers through his short hair briefly. "Hey," he greeted the group. But, Lea knew Riku was mainly greeting him on account of how his eyes stared at him.
Lea tried not to cringe through the brief meeting between the six of them as Sora held Riku's hand. His eyes kept uncomfortably looking at the locked hands and the left tanned finger that had a ring. He noticed Riku also had his ring, but probably only for show.
Eventually, Naminé went off to mingle with her new buddies and chat it up with the blonde boy that she was so obviously interested in. This left Lea with the "engaged" couple and he hoped that Sora would let go of Riku's hand already.
"It looks like we're running out of snacks," Riku commented as he stared at the table.
"What pigs. I'll go get more later." Sora leaned up to give Riku a kiss on the cheek causing the silverette to give a small, fleeting smile. Lea watched as the brunette took off to join the group lounging on the couch. He really did have a lot of friends...
"I'm glad you came," Riku murmured, earning Lea's attention right away. "I'm not much of a party person."
"Me neither. But, at least you look great," Lea said softly, his eyes scanning Riku's snug v-neck sweater. The patch of skin near his collarbone was just too appealing to the sight. "Though I'm a bit jealous now."
Riku's expression changed slightly, his eyes becoming foggy. "Meet me upstairs, okay? I'll give you a reason to not be jealous," he whispered with a smile. Lea felt the small brush of Riku's hand against the side of his arm before he left him. He stood in shock as he watched the male's hips away slightly as he climbed up the stairs, disappearing around a corner.
Did Riku just flirt with him?
Lea gulped as he loosened the collar of his undershirt underneath his sweater, biting his bottom lip. He felt the back of his neck heat up and the starting signs of perspiration. Did it suddenly get hot in here?
The redhead stiffly walked over to a conversing Sora. He made his presence known with a clear of his throat. The brunette brightly smiled, calling to him, "Hey, Lea! What's going on?"
"Do you have a, err, restroom?" Lea asked awkwardly. 'Please let it be upstairs,' he thought hopefully.
"Yep! It's upstairs, first door on the left."
Lea bowed his leave with a thanks, going towards the stairs. He stiffly grabbed onto the railing as his legs climbed the steps. As the barista made it to the top, he was pulled to the side quickly.
"It's me," a voice gasped into his ear, making the tall male profusely blush. Lea pulled back to see a flushed Riku. He didn't get to stare for long before he was pushed into the nearest room, the door closing behind them. Two arms wrapped around the redhead as he felt lips peck several times against his cheek. "Lea," Riku whispered, his hands threading through the redhead's ponytail.
Lea noticed the wanton tone in Riku's voice. He gulped nervously as Riku's body needily pressed against his. "We're away from everybody else," he continued to whisper, guiding Lea's head down. "I've been wanting to kiss you for the longest time."
"Riku," Lea hissed out before he felt Riku's lips claim his aggressively. A wanton moan leaked into Lea's mouth before Riku pulled away with a gasp.
"Okay, I'm good..." Riku giggled, his face hiding in the crook of Lea's neck. "I, I just really wanted to do that."
The redhead blushed and stood silently, still stunned from their shared kiss and Riku's change of attitude. "Yeah, that was really nice," he finally choked out. His body was finally responsive as his arms wrapped around Riku's waist, pulling him in closely.
"Nn," he heard the silverette hum out happily. If Lea didn't realize earlier, he would have realized now that Riku really enjoyed spending any moment with him. Lea hugged Riku more tightly in a shared comfortable silence before his ears caught the faraway sound of music playing from downstairs.
"You hear that?" Lea murmured into the short strands of silver hair. "I think that means you're going to dance with me again. Hope you've been practicing."
"I guess I'm screwed," Riku chuckled as he, too, heard the slow dance music.
Lea's hands held the other's waist softly, guiding the male to shift from side to side. Riku followed his movements, his body swaying back and forth. The redhead felt the male settle into this mesmerizing sway. Riku's movements caused his body to brush against Lea's chest.
Lea shivered, his hands traveling lower to those swaying tempting hips. "Looks like you did practice," he huskily murmured.
"Maybe in front of the mirror," Riku whispered back, turning around in one lucid half-twirl. Lea felt the full length of Riku's back pressed against the front of his body. Riku's arms reached behind to dangle loosely about Lea's neck. The redhead could feel the tips of fingertips loosely graze against the base of his skull.
"You're so...beautiful," Lea said softly. He turned the male to face him and his lips heatedly found Riku's.
"Mnn," Riku moaned, pulling away after a minute. "I love you, Lea..." Lea's face showed the shock that paralyzed him to the spot. Riku shared the same reaction before his fingers traced against his own lips. "I, I'm sorry. Was that too soon?"
"No, I lo-" Lea was about to confess, but the lack of music stopped his words. An excited murmur amongst the guests downstairs caused Riku to separate from him.
"Sounds like the ball's about to drop," Riku commented with a nervous smile, playing with a strand of his hair. "I'll see you downstairs," he called softly before exiting the room.
Lea gulped as he counted at least ten seconds before going downstairs as well. As he was at the bottom, Naminé pulled him aside, smiling excitedly.
"Where have you been? The ball's about to drop!" Naminé cheered. Lea was about to answer, or rather lie, that he went to the restroom, but was interrupted by further excited talking. "Oh, never mind. Here, Sora's been handing these out to everybody here."
Lea was handed an envelope. Curiously, he began to reach for the flap until his hand was slapped by Naminé. "Not now! He said he'll tell you when to open it."
"Well, then," Lea muttered before his eyes ripped away from the nagging blonde to a persistent tapping of glass. The sound came from Sora, who was tapping a spoon against his glass of what Lea assumed to be champagne or apple cider.
"Everyone! Attention, well I think I got all of your attention," he nervously chuckled out, earning some lighthearted laughter from some of the crowd. Lea absentmindedly listened as Sora continued. "Well, each of you were handed an envelope. Don't open it!" he randomly yelled out to the short blonde in front, Roxas, who stuck out his tongue. "Geez! Anyways, where's Riku!"
Riku was playfully shoved by Kairi to where Sora was standing. He nervously fiddled with the sleeve of his sweater, finding it uncomfortable to be in front of a group of people. "It's okay, I'm not going to make you say anything," Sora giggled before Riku significantly relaxed.
"Now before we celebrate the beginning of a New Year, I would just like to say that- Roxas don't open it!" Sora chided again. He sighed before continuing his speech. "Riku."
The silverette confusedly faced him as his name was called. "Riku, when this ball drops, usually people celebrate a new year with their lovers with a kiss. I would like to celebrate with something else."
Lea had this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. He shook off the feeling by standing differently, passing it off as some...embarrassing bowels problem.
"Riku, I want to celebrate with this," Sora announced, standing there with a blush as he searched through his pocket. Excited 'oohs' and 'aaahs' rang through the room as Sora dropped to his knee, coming from everyone except Lea.
No.
"Would you marry me this weekend to the start of a New Year with us?"
This was not happening. It was too soon.
The uncomfortable feeling shot straight to Lea's stomach once more. He was beginning to feel nauseous and cold as his breathing stopped. He watched Riku intently. The silverette was struggling to say something, anything. Any other time, Lea knew he would have refused and maybe secretly, right now, he didn't want to accept.
But, there was this group staring at him. Friends, possibly close friends. They were excited to hear one answer and one answer only: the positive outburst of yes that would send them into a screaming uproar. There was peer pressure, there was this powerful presence of people forcing him to answer oppositely from what he would normally answer.
Although it was obvious, Lea was still heartbroken as he heard the forced, "Yes" slip out of Riku's lips. He tried to block out the cheers that followed afterward. He willed his eyes to go blind at the sight of Sora happily hugging the silver haired male and kissing him on the lips.
Then there were more cheers and friendly kisses amongst others as the ball finally dropped. He was numb as Naminé hugged him and kissed him on the cheek in celebration of the New Year and the upcoming marriage of two lovers who were a match in heaven.
Over Naminé's shoulder, Lea saw Riku staring at him. Even all the way across the room, he could understand the feelings the other was experiencing. Shock, fear, sorrow. There was no sign of happiness or light that were previously shining in them.
Lea waited a couple of minutes before whispering to Naminé he didn't feel so well. It wasn't a lie either. When she offered to take him home, Lea denied her help. He had to leave and not say goodbye to anybody.
It was over.
A.N.: SAD CLIFFHANGER POWERS...activate!
To AuroraNyumun: That's good that you still maintain a healthy friendship with your ex. I hope to do the same with mine! And I could totally imagine Sora doing that. XD He's too nice of a guy to not do that. I feel he would be Riku's friend for life, no matter what happens.
To gaara'sGurl101: I can't wait to write the reaction. It might be what some or no one expects. And I'm glad you enjoyed my corny pun. XD Yes someone who does! No crickets this time!
To Ignie: Another person who likes my pun yay! The two of them happy is what makes me squeak with embarrassment. And Riku would be like "Oh, okay, so, does this mean...can I be with Lea?" And it's like "Yeah!" Nah, I wish it could be that easy!