Hello wanderers,
Summer is here and I have a short break before going back to work full time. Ain't no rest for the wicked, after all. But in that short break you can expect chapters to come out. :) Huzzah.
Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story so far. It's almost been a year since I started this bad boy, crazy enough. I recently got an AMAZING review that re-inspired me to write this story again. I want to thank everyone who takes the time to write a review. They really do matter.
~Eliza
Riku and Leon rushed through their examinations, much to Cid's dismay and Aerith's amusement. When Cid found the bites on Riku's shoulder it took extreme amounts of coaxing on Aerith's part to get the gruff old man to listen to her explanation. Riku had to be locked in a room away from the medical wing and kept there for three hours before Cid was willing to believe he wouldn't turn. The old guy did agree not to tell Seifer, though, to everyone's relief. So the Silveret sat on a cot in a utility closet that had been turned into a make-shift holding room for him. They had to keep everything hush-hush so Seifer wouldn't find out. Cid was a little bit easier to convince than the raging Boss.
"I'm not going to turn. You're just wasting your time." Riku muttered in annoyance while Cid escorted him into the tiny room. The old man chuckled deeply.
"I'm actually wasting your time. It doesn't bother me any that you're trapped in here for the next three hours." He smirked and closed the Silveret in. Riku scowled in anger and shuffled his feet over to the small cot that he sat on for a total of thirty seconds before his door was unlocked.
"Are you crazy? He could turn!" Cid could be heard from the outside of the door before Leon slipped inside.
"He's not going to turn! Geez, how many times do we have to tell you that?" Leon called back in frustration. He had obviously had to fight Cid to even let him in the room at all.
"Leon, you be nice!" Aerith scolded her husband and could be heard talking softly to Cid on the other side. The brunet man cautiously moved away from the door he had been holding closed and sighed in relief when it didn't open. His wife had come through for him; Cid was distracted and gone.
"I need to talk to you." Leon sat down on the cot next to Riku and rubbed his temples. Something was obviously troubling the older man and Riku desperately wanted to know.
"Does this have to do with Seifer?" The Silveret asked curiously while Leon got more comfortable. Well, as comfortable as he could on a wooden cot.
"Of course it does. I don't trust him. You don't know him like I do." He shook his head in disgust and started his story.
Years ago, before Leon and Aerith were married, she and Seifer were best friends. They did everything together and it was almost impossible to find one without the other. Everyone said they were destined to be together. But then Aerith met Leon… things changed.
She stopped spending as much time with Seifer. Sometimes the three of them would hang out (one of her desperate attempts to keep her friendship and relationship healthy and flourishing), but whenever they did it would turn into a pissing match between Leon and Seifer. One of them would try to show off to get Aerith's attention, the other would retaliate, and it went on from there until Aerith couldn't take it anymore. She separated the men in her life. The longer they dated, though, the more time she spent with Leon and the less with Seifer. He became jealous. Insanely envious.
When Leon asked Aerith to marry him, Seifer went postal. He stewed in silence for a month or so. His silence was deadly, and the couple never could have known what he would do. He found out where Leon and all his buddies were having his bachelor party and crashed it.
"He was furious that I had 'won', as terrible as it is to think that you can 'win' a person. I don't like thinking about it that way. Aerith's my everything, not a thing. But to Seifer she was a prize and he came in second." Leon explained.
"So what did he do when he showed up?" Riku was enthralled with Leon's story.
"He threatened me that if I didn't call off my wedding he'd make my life a living hell. I obviously didn't think anything of it and told him to go home. He was piss-drunk at that point. I wasn't exactly sober either, but I wasn't as bad as he was. He got pissed off that I disregarded him and broke a beer bottle across my face." Leon pointed to the scar running down his nose and chuckled.
"Christ! That's how that happened?" Riku inspected the jagged scar. It would match up to broken glass.
"Yup. I took the broken bottle from his hand and smashed it into his face. That's why we have the matching scars. We got kicked out of the bar right after that and I went to the hospital to get my nose super-glued together. Our wedding photos are absolutely horrific. Aerith was furious." He chuckled and ran his finger across his nose. Riku smiled at the thought of Leon standing at the altar with gauze all down his face.
"All of that over a girl?" Riku raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, man. Aerith isn't just any girl. She's the perfect girl. Their whole family is perfect. Well… what's left of it." Leon looked away but Riku got the hint. It dug into his core.
"Don't act like I'm unaware of how wonderful Sora is. This isn't about whether or not I have feelings for him. It's about a cure." He did his best to hide his anger. Of course he loved Sora! Of course he cared! But what could he do? Nothing.
"Yeah-yeah. I get it." Leon muttered before there was a knock on the door.
"Guys, you can come out now." Aerith called sweetly from the other side. Leon shot upright and walked to the door. He threw it open and grabbed the brunette before yanking her toward him and kissing her. She was startled for a moment before kissing him back. When they pulled apart she stared at him lovingly. He returned the look ten-fold.
"What's that all about?" She asked while rubbing her nose against his. He smiled softly.
"I'm just happy to see you." He replied.
"I guess I should lock you up more often then, huh?" She teased before waving for Riku to leave the room too. The Silveret felt himself growing jealous of their display of affection. He reminded himself that he needed to stay strong. He couldn't break.
"I was just telling Riku how we should get out of this place as soon as possible…" Leon mentioned casually. Aerith raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"We need to start looking for a cure." Riku suggested.
"We found another doctor! What more could you want?" Aerith sounded hurt, as if Riku was suggesting her efforts weren't good enough.
"I don't trust him…" Leon confessed. His wife knew he wasn't talking about Cid.
"Oh, stop it! Not this again, Squall! I don't want to hear it, okay? Seifer isn't a bad guy!" She frowned in disappointment and wiggled her way out of Leon's embrace. Her husband tried to grab her back but she hopped out of the way. "Promise me you won't start any trouble, okay? We don't need any more scars on you." She scolded.
"I've already told you, he hit me first!" Leon whined.
"That's not what he says. Your stories don't match up so I have no one I can believe." She reminded him.
"You could believe me. I'm your husband!" Leon exclaimed. Aerith crossed her arms and frowned.
"You two have never gotten along. Just put it to rest, Squall. If I hear you're giving him trouble then I'm going to be disappointed in you." She began to walk back to the medical wing. Leon followed her angrily.
"Disappointed? What are you, my mother? Aerith, come back here! Aerith! Ugh!" He ran after her and left Riku to walk by himself slowly after them. He found it strange that he was jealous of their fighting, even. Sure, he and Sora still actively fought, but it wasn't the same. There wasn't the underlying "no matter what, we're together and we'll be okay" to make the fights seem less painful.
He walked into the medical wing and found everyone crowded around a single bed. He wandered over and cringed when he saw how horrible Roxas looked. The blond was normally so vibrant; watching him lie there lifeless was taxing on everyone. His face was bloodied and swollen. His chest was an even deeper purple and his breathing looked labored. Axel sat next to him and didn't look down. He didn't want to see him that way.
"How soon will he be better?" The Silveret was the only one who could find words. Aerith and Cid locked eyes before the brunette nodded for Cid to answer.
"You friend is sick as a dog. He's got at least two broken ribs and some muscle damage from the resuscitation. We think he seized from shock. Shock is hard to treat, and we have no idea what other damage may have been caused from the seizure." Cid explained while momentarily taking the cigarette out of his mouth.
"Oh man…" Axel closed his eyes as if he were trying to block out Cid's talking.
"He won't be able to move anywhere for at least a month… if not more." Cid stated.
"A month?!" Riku exclaimed in disbelief. "That's impossible. It has to be wrong. We can't stay here that long. We have a week, tops, if even that!"
"If you want Roxas coming with you when you leave, then you're going to have to wait." Cid gruffly replied before leaving the medical wing. There were no other patients and only the gang remained.
"Riku, he's really sick. We can't move him." Aerith reassuringly touched the Silveret's shoulder.
"We need to leave. This place isn't safe." Riku shook his head.
"Of course it is! You just don't want to stay here because of your stupid cure." Sora spit out in disgust. Riku's head jerked in the brunet's direction and the two men locked eyes. Sora was pissed and it was easy to see. He glared at the Silveret through slits in his eyelids and had his arms crossed. He sat on Roxas' other side across from Axel.
"The cure isn't stupid. We got lucky and Roxas wasn't bitten. He easily could have been. He'd have turned and then what? Then we'd put him down like an animal? I don't want to live in a world where I have to kill my friends." Riku's eyes soon matched Sora's in a glare. He hated that the brunet was doing this to him. He knew Sora would be upset, but he had hoped that his ex-lover could understand the logic in their break-up. But apparently Sora couldn't, and was taking his frustrations out on Riku.
"If you move him before he's healed you're killing him all the same." Sora turned his head away once he was done speaking. Riku groaned in frustration and threw his hands up in the air.
"Fine! We'll stay, alright? Everyone happy now? God knows I can't do anything else fucking good enough for you people!" Riku roared in anger before storming away from the medical wing. He slammed the door behind himself and left the rest of the gang to worry.
"Sora, what did you have to go and do that for?" Aerith crossed her arms and pouted at her younger brother. The brunet held his hands up in defense.
"Me? I didn't do anything! He's the jerk!" Sora looked back down to Roxas. His best friend in the whole world, and he was sicker than could be. Sweat had gathered on the blond's forehead. Both Axel and Sora reached to wipe it off at the same time. They locked eyes and smiled as Sora took his hand out of Axel's way.
"He's doing his best to keep us alive." Larxene reminded.
"He's never done us wrong before." Cloud piped in.
"He cares about us!" Demyx exclaimed with enthusiasm.
"You watched him take a bite for me…" Aerith calmly rubbed her brother's back as if she were trying to soothingly let the information soak in.
"I talked with him. We don't trust this place and he doesn't want any of us in danger." Leon joined his wife at Sora's side. He clasped the smaller boy's shoulder in the kid of way an older brother should.
"Yeah-yeah. I get it. Riku's amazing." Sora snorted. Aerith smacked him upside the head and gave him a look that clearly stated he needed to change his attitude. He rolled his eyes and reluctantly got to his feet. "Fine. I'll go apologize. But don't expect it to be mushy and sincere." He followed the path that Riku took out of the medical wing and was ready to search far and wide for the Silveret. He didn't need to go far, though, because he looked to his left and found Riku sitting with his head hanging between his knees. He lifted his head at the sound of footsteps and turned to see Sora standing alone. He let his head rest behind him against the wall. Sora vividly remembered a time that seemed so long ago, even though it was a little less than a year.
Riku slid down the fence until he was sitting with his back against it. He looked up at me expectantly until I, too, slid down the fence and plopped next to him.
Sora barely knew what he was doing as he sat down next to Riku once more. The Silveret turned and looked at him.
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing anyone any favors by keeping them here." He rubbed his temple, clearly feeling insecure.
"I keep putting us in danger. How can I trust my judgment?" He asked in desperation.
"They're all alive. They may hate each other, but at least they're alive to hate each other." I chuckled and clasped Riku's shoulder in reassurance. In reality that was all that mattered anymore. We couldn't want anything more than going to bed and waking up the next day.
"You didn't lose anyone, Riku. We're all right here, and we're all with you every step of the way." Sora buried his anger at the Silveret and let himself feel something more.
"Are you with me?" Riku reached down to find Sora's hand. He locked one of his fingers around the ring on the brunet's left hand.
Sora didn't know what to say. What could he say? Yes, yes I'm with you, but why won't you love me? No, no I hate you for ruining us? Yes, but don't torture me like this? How could he find a way to tell Riku everything he was feeling? What was Sora even feeling? He had no idea. One minute he was filled with rage at what the Silveret had done, and the next he was offering himself up in Riku's place for a suicide mission. The brunet had no idea what was happening to him. He had never suffered a broken heart before, and he sure as hell had never lost someone he loved like Riku.
"I'm here for now…" Sora settled on calming Riku's fears without giving him any absolutes. He saw the Silveret visibly relax at the idea of Sora no longer fighting him. "Come with me. You could use a shower." Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora's remark. "We're gross, Riku. Let's clean up and put on some fresh clothes." Sora got to his feet and used the hand Riku was holding to pull him up as well. The Silveret blinked at him in surprise.
"A… shower?" He asked warily. Sora smiled.
"Yup. A real shower. With hot water." He explained. Riku's face shifted from surprise to immense joy.
"Race you there!" He took off in the wrong direction. Sora laughed.
"You don't even know where you're going!" He continued to chuckle as he chased the Silveret down and dragged him back the right way. They ended up at the men's locker room that the rest of the gang had used earlier to shower. Sora had sat with Roxas, though, worrying and waiting for the diagnosis and for Riku's return from the supply closet. He didn't tell anyone about the second part.
Sora went in first and set their clothes down on one of the shelves. Riku looked at him skeptically.
"The rest of the people living here have set days and times they're allowed to shower. It conserves water, obviously." He explained.
"So no one else will be in here?" Riku asked.
"That is correct, Officer Docken." Sora saluted him and stripped off his shirt. Riku followed suit. After the Silveret had stripped down completely he stepped into one of the shower stalls and closed the curtain behind him. Sora rolled his eyes and re-opened it before stepping in with his ex-lover.
"Um, hello?" Riku raised an eyebrow.
"You need my help." Sora pointed to the oozing bite wound on Riku's shoulder. It seemed that the Silveret forgot it was even there. He sighed and handed Sora a bar of soap.
"Fine, but then you're out." He stated.
"Eager to get rid of me?" Sora asked teasingly. He took a rag and began to wash the open wound gently. He remembered how to from the last time he had to clean out Riku's bite. This time, though, things were so different between them. The time before they were elated to have each other to hold. Now? Well...
"I don't think it's wise for us to be in such close proximity… dripping wet…slippery…" The Silveret shook his head and cleared his mind of the image.
"Oh, so you aren't immune to me?" Sora could hear the venom in his own voice and mentally slapped himself.
"How could I be? You don't understand that I'm suffering too." Riku turned around to face Sora. The brunet bit his lip at the sight of water running down that gorgeous hair, face, chest… lower yet. He looked up and locked eyes with his once boyfriend.
"You have a choice, Riku." He let his hands drop the soap to the ground and they found themselves cupping the Silveret's face. Riku melted into the touch and leaned his head against the brunet's warm and weathered hands.
"Sora…" Chills went down the brunet's spine as Riku moaned his name is desperation. Too many emotions were trapped in that breath with his name attached to it.
"Just come back to me. You're not happy, I can see it. Please, just come home." Sora pleaded with his ex-lover. The Silveret opened his eyes and stared at the brunet's ocean-like orbs. Not only were they colored rich like the ocean deep, but they were brimming with tears.
"Sora… I… I can't." Riku ran out of the shower's spray and quickly dried himself off. He threw on clothes and bolted from the locker room, leaving Sora to silently mourn in solitude.
