The next morning Sora woke before Riku. He rolled out of bed after planting a small kiss on Riku's defined shoulder. He padded softly to the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping in under the hot spray of water. There was a crick in his neck suggesting he had slept wrong. Is this what growing old feels like? He battled heartless and an evil organization at the age of 14 and now he can't even sleep with the wrong pillow.
Sora added some body wash to a loofa and started scrubbing himself clean. He was halfway through his shower when he heard the bathroom door open. He peeked around the shower curtain and saw Riku standing at the sink brushing his teeth.
"Good morning sleepy head. How'd you sleep?" Sora asked while he shampooed his hair.
"Morning. Ugh, another nightmare." He said after a moment, the sink running as he continued to brush his teeth.
"Another one? Isn't that like the fourth one you've had this week?" He rinsed the shampoo out of his hair and grabbed the conditioner bottle.
"Yeah, maybe I should talk to Sara about it, these nightmares are getting out of hand." Riku stepped into the shower and grabbed the loofa and started scrubbing himself down.
Sora looked his boyfriend up and down, still surprised at how pale he was. Despite the years on the beach Riku still looked like he was carved out of marble. Memories from the night before flashed through his mind as he blushed lightly. Three years and he still acted like a schoolgirl around his boyfriend.
Riku smiled at the blush that crept across Sora's cheeks, remembering the night before. He vaguely remembered mumbling something as he fell asleep laying across Sora's waist. He didn't fret himself with what it was as Sora seemed relatively unbothered by whatever it was. Sora stayed in the shower as Riku finished up his own shower just basking in the closeness of being with him.
They both exited the bathroom after toweling off and made their way to the kitchen.
"Want some coffee?" Sora asked, finger hovering over the button.
"Nah, I'll get some at brunch. I've got a couple emails I need to send for work so why don't you just get ready to go birthday boy." He gave Sora a kiss on the temple before heading into the office.
"What was that about?" Sora wondered out loud. It seemed almost dismissive. Was Riku okay? Besides, Riku works in a library, what emails would he need to send? Sora scratched his head but headed to the bedroom and got dressed. He pulled on a pair of nice dark wash jeans, a black t-shirt and his favorite red vest with the hood. He peeked his head out of the bedroom and checked to make sure Riku wasn't headed in. He snuck into the closet and retrieved the velvet box from the photo box and stashed it under a handkerchief in his pocket. Just as Sora was setting the box back Riku came in.
"Hey, I'm just gonna throw on some clothes and I'll be ready to go. You ready?" Riku called out.
"Yeah, just grabbing my shoes!" He yelped.
"You okay?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow. It had been years since he heard Sora's voice crack like that.
"Yeah! Totally fine! Just excited to drink legally!" He said, butterflies erupting in his stomach. He finished lacing up his shoes and stood up. He watched Riku get dressed, sliding on a long sleeve black button down over medium wash jeans. He left the top two buttons stylishly undone but did throw on a black sports coat over it all. Sora let out a low whistle.
"Oof, you sure we don't have a little time?" Sora said with a waggle of his brows making Riku scoff lightly.
"Kairi's expecting us, and she hates it when we make her wait. You know what she always says, if you're early you're on time, if you're on time you're late." He quoted the phrase that Kairi must have recited a hundred times to the two men. Sora rolled his eyes.
"Buzzkill." He muttered under his breath.
"Ready?" Riku asked and Sora headed towards the front door.
"Whenever you are!" He hollered back enthusiastically.
By the time they arrived at the restaurant Kairi was already seated.
"How long have you been here, we're still 15 minutes early." Riku said as he took a seat to the left of Kairi, Sora taking the seat directly across from him to her right.
"They literally just seated me when you two walked in. I already have the mimosa's ordered. Happy birthday, Sora!" She produced a big blue and white gift bag tied with a series of fancy curly ribbons and a card attached to the front. Sora opened the card first.
" 'Nothing says happy birthday like a folded piece of cardstock. Happy 21st birthday to the biggest dork I'll ever know!' Thank you Kairi." He chuckled at the card before placing it on the table and pulling the bag into his lap, untying the numerous ribbons holding the handles together. He pulled out a black and red bag with a shoulder strap and two crown shaped clasps on the front flap.
"Wow, Kairi, this is so cool! Thank you so much! I was needing a new bag!" He exclaimed, true delight lighting his eyes up.
"Thanks! I got it off etsy! You have no idea how hard you are to shop for!" She beamed with pride, relieved that Sora liked the gift. Just then the mimosa's arrived and after IDing everyone at the table, and a hefty congratulations, the waitress poured for the three of them. Sora was happy to discover that he REALLY enjoyed mimosas. As a matter of fact, he enjoyed them to excess and the waitress finally had to cut Sora off and started just pouring him orange juice. Riku had switched to coffee and was enjoying watching Sora's eyes glitter like champagne bubbles.
"You…you guys are the best friends ever. I love you guys so much. I'm sorry I was such a jerk to both of you. I just…I just don't know what I'd do without you guys." He rambled as he ate his French toast and hash browns. Thank the guardians of light that they talked him into eating bread for his main course. Though it certainly wasn't the first time they had drunk Sora was a lightweight. They didn't drink often but when they did Sora was generally the DD. He didn't like most liquors, so he was usually a beer guy. Easy to keep track of his portions that way.
"What do you mean you were a jerk, when were you ever a jerk?" Kairi asked, her voice lilting a little with the sparkling wine in the cheap mimosas.
"Back when we were still dating. I was a jerk to Riku because I was mad at him. I felt like he ran away from us. From me. And I was so angry. I had already lost him to the darkness once, and I was angry. I thought maybe he didn't need me. Like he didn't want me, and it was easier to be angry than actually face the fact that I was scared. I'm used to being the hero, I'm not used to being scared. And Kairi, I shouldn't have led you on. I shouldn't have tried so hard. We'd always been together, and everyone always assumed it was a matter of time before we got together, you know because heterosexuality is the assumed normal. So, I guess in hindsight I was a jerk and used you to hep mask my fear and anger. Maybe if I could make it work with you it would make it okay what I was doing to Riku. But in the split second before I saw that truck hit me it really was like my life flashed before my eyes. Everything snapped into focus. Riku, Kairi, Sara, my mom, everything. I was an asshole, and I should've treated you both with more respect. At the very least the respect you both deserved. I'm so sorry." Sora rambled on before his voice cracked and he started to cry. Riku and Kairi exchanged a look. They had never gotten an explanation for how things had occurred, and it was nice to get the closure, but it hurt the both of them to see Sora still so distraught over the events.
They tried to reassure him but to no avail. It only seemed to make him more emotional and finally Riku gave up and just waved over the waitress for the check. After he paid they poured Sora into the car and agreed to all meet back at Sora and Riku's apartment.
Once they arrived back at the apartment Riku guided a still apologizing Sora up the stairs and into the bedroom. He brought him a glass of water and kissed his forehead, Kairi leaning against the bedroom door frame watching the two of them with affection. She really did love her boys. No one could ever replace them in her life, and she was genuinely happy they were happy together.
Riku pulled the door closed as Sora snored softly.
"Looks like it's wine-nap-o'clock." Riku said chuckling softly. Riku led the way back out to the living room and sat in the lounge chair, Kairi taking a seat on the spacious couch.
"Wow." Kairi was the first one to speak.
"Wow, indeed. That's not how I planned for that lunch to go." Riku agreed.
"I'm glad it did though. I'll be honest, the apology was nice. I always felt like his other apologies were halfhearted, like he was only sorry for breaking up with me. Not that he was sorry for dating me at all."
"What are you talking about?" Riku asked, confused about what Kairi meant.
"I mean, he apologized before right after the breakup, but it didn't feel like he was apologizing for anything more than JUST the breakup. Like he had convinced himself that he really did like me that way. I always knew he was forcing it, but I was okay with it. Because honestly, I get it. I was angry at you too. We've always been there for each other and then you just take off to Castle Oblivion helping Ansem with his research with barely a goodbye. And then you were gone for months and we never heard from you. I guess we were both scared of losing you a second time. It really did feel like you were still pushing us away and that hurt. We leaned into each other trying to hide from our own hurt feelings and all of us got hurt in the process. So, I guess to add to it, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that we couldn't be there for you when you needed us, and I'm sorry that we used each other to try to, I don't know, get back at you in some way for hurting us." She rambled slightly, staring intently at her hands folded in her lap. Riku swore he saw a tear fall onto the back of her hand, but she reached up and wiped her eyes gentle not to smear her makeup.
Riku stood up and moved over to the couch, sitting next to the burgundy haired girl and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
"Hey, don't cry, it's okay. It's water under the bridge. I'm sorry too. I needed to be away for a while, I was afraid that if I were too close to you after being in the darkness for so long I would go back down that path. You two are the most important people in the world to me and I wouldn't trade you for all the paopu fruit on the island. I was scared too. I wasn't sure if I had been able to rid my entire heart of the darkness yet and I couldn't risk having it overflow onto you two. But you're absolutely right. I hardly said goodbye and you didn't deserve that. You deserved to hear from me, you deserved at least a post card letting you know I was okay. I really am sorry. Forgive me?" Riku squeezed Kairi tightly around the shoulders and planted a firm kiss on the top of her head. She turned slightly, wrapping her arms around Riku.
"Of course I forgive you, you big dummy. You never even had to ask. We should've tried harder to understand that you needed space. Just promise me that you'll communicate better next time you need space like that." She smiled into his shoulder, breathing deep of his warm scent. He smelled earthy and musky like wet pavement and soil after a light rain. It was a smell that he had carried with him since their childhood. It was strong and sturdy and above all, comforting.
"Hopefully after tonight there won't be a need for a next time. But regardless, I promise. I love you." He kissed the top of her head again. She returned with a kiss on his cheek.
"Love you too, you big dummy." She smiled and pulled back. "So, can I see it?" She asked, eyes lighting back up. Riku dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out the black velvet box and opened it showing Kairi the ring sitting inside. She let out a small squeal of delight tenderly taking the box from Riku to closer admire the delicate piece of jewelry.
"Oh Riku, it's PERFECT." She squealed again. "I just know he's gonna love it!"
"Heh, let's hope it can at least compare to the briefcase." Riku chuckled.
"Oh come, it's a briefcase. The bar is NOT that high." She rolled her eyes making Riku laugh out loud.
"Do you want to know what Sara is getting him?" He stood up and headed for the kitchen filling up a glass of water. Kairi nodded.
"Tattoo. Looks like you and Sora are getting those matching tattoos after all." He explained. She bounced up and down in glee. She then proceeded to spend the next hour trying to persuade Riku to get in on the tattoo.
Sora woke up sometime around 4 and they all socialized until it was time to head to dinner. They all headed out and Riku was grinning ear to ear. Although he started the day with doubts, today proved that he was surer than ever that he was ready to take their relationship to the next level. He couldn't wait.