Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them. Special thanks goes out to:

Alba Aulbath

Alana

Shadow

Raiegki Reiko Leviathan (who helps me feel normal. Sora/Donald? Never thought of it! ^_~)

InSaNe KeYbLaDeR (proper inflection ^_^)

Ms. Halley Bomb-bally

Kurai Chan

And the rest of my wonderful reviewers. Anyway, more shounen-ai goodness coming up so stay tuned (Kind of glad I went in this direction for the story. It's pretty fun!)

Beginning Notes: KairixSelphie, yeah it's pretty unlikely, but I thought it was cute enough to stick in. That's the only time it'll show up, though, unless people want to see more. And the identity of Jecht's friend is not Braska. I thought about it, but decided not to. I learned in English class that if a character isn't important, you don't usually name them. Jecht's friend and his daughter's purpose is already being fulfilled, without them actually showing up so they remain anonymous. Besides you really wouldn't want me to break up TidusxYuna, do ya? That's the best romance a Final Fantasy game has had since the Cloud/Aerith/Tifa love triangle of FFVII. Locke/Celes of FFVI was good, Squall/Rinoa of FFVIII was lame and Zidane/Garnet of FFIX was merely okay. Just thought you'd like to know.

Disclaimer: One of these days, I'm gonna keep a count of how many times they say "Heart" "Darkness" and "Light" in Kingdom Hearts. :P Oh yeah, and I don't own it. Square and Disney do.

Tidus' eyes were greeted by sunlight cascading through the window. They slowly opened up revealing a pair of groggy, blue eyes. He got up and took a look at his surroundings. This wasn't his room. This wasn't even his house. Plus he had the worst headache ever.

He groaned as he put a hand to his forehead. Was he okay? He could barely remember what happened last night.

He walked out of the room and into the hallway. This wasn't his hallway. Now he was even more confused.

He heard sounds coming from another room and decided to follow them. They led to another room, apparently the kitchen. He saw Riku, sitting at the table, eating his breakfast and reading a book.

Now he got it. He was in Riku's house. He forgot how he ended up here, but it didn't really matter.

Riku looked up from his book and saw him. He flashed a smile.

"Good morning, sleepy-head!" Riku greeted him. "You feeling okay now?"

Tidus rubbed his brow, groaning again.

"Not really. My headache is killing me."

"It's a hangover. It'll go away." Riku informed. He took a sip from his glass of orange juice.

"Um, how did I get here and how did I wind up in your bed?" Tidus asked, taking a seat from across Riku.

"You don't remember? Well that's not a surprise. You were pretty smashed."

Tidus blushed. "Yeah, well, I kind of remember speaking to you in…some place…it kind of gets blurry after that."

Riku smirked. "Don't worry. You didn't do anything too stupid."

"That's good to know." Tidus said. He wanted to ask more questions on what went on last night, but he realized if anything important happened, Riku would let him know. But what if it was utterly embarrassing? Riku probably thought it'd be best if he didn't know. What if he told him something he wasn't quite sure of himself yet?

"Relax," Riku reassured as if reading his thoughts. "You didn't do anything. We didn't do anything. You just came across me and Sora, told us your dad kicked you out and I offered to take you in for the night."

It was more or less the truth.

Tidus breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, it wasn't long before the plaguing question came back to haunt him. What to do now?

Riku set a plate in front of him. On it rested a delicious-looking omelet.

"Made it for you." Riku said warmly. Tidus looked up at him, then back at the plate.

"Th-thank you. But you didn't have to." Tidus said in a soft voice. "I can leave as soon as possible."

Riku placed a hand on Tidus' shoulder and looked at him. "That's unnecessary. All my friends are welcome to stay in my house as long as they need to. Especially you." He went back to pick up his own finished plate and put in the sink.

Tidus looked at the omelet, a small smile crept across his face. He didn't know Riku could cook. And it looked very good, too.

"You can dig in anytime now." Riku joked. Tidus blushed from embarrassment. He must've been staring at it for a long time. Riku folded his arms.

"Hey, I'm a pretty good cook. It's not going to kill you, if that's what your worried about."

Tidus shook his head.

"No it's not that. I didn't brush my teeth yet. I can't eat without doing that." he smiled shyly. Riku went up to him and ruffled his hair.

"Yeah, you probably have horrible morning breath. There's a few extra, unused toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet in the hallway bathroom. You can use one of those." Tidus thanked him, got up, and left. Riku took this time to think about the current situation. He wasn't ready to let Tidus go home, but he knew he couldn't keep him here forever. Hearing that Jecht sometimes threw Tidus out of the house making him spend the night in a cold, damp cave greatly disturbed him. The makeshift leaf bed was what Tidus must've slept on during those nights.

Damn it, he thought, why does he have to live like that? Now he started to wonder if Jecht beat him. No, he couldn't. The only bruises he saw on Tidus were ones he inflicted when their duels got serious. No, the kind of abuse Jecht gave Tidus were of the verbal kind.

Riku sat down at the table to think. He knew Tidus was constantly trying to prove himself. Striving to be the best in everything from fighting to blitzball. Could it be the result of his father constantly putting him down?

Tidus walked back into the room and sat down in his chair. They didn't say a word as Tidus picked up his knife and fork and began eating.

Riku studied the younger boy's face. It looked so sad. Forlorn. The voice he spoke in was soft and quiet. Not like the usual Tidus at all.

He needed help. Riku wanted to consult Sora, Kairi, Selphie or Wakka, but wasn't sure if they could help. Sora, Kairi and Selphie didn't know Tidus like Riku knew him. Wakka probably knew him better than Riku, though. He kind of grumbled at that thought and didn't know why.

"It's good."

"Huh?" Riku snapped out of his thoughts.

"The omelet. It's very good." Tidus complemented. He still wasn't looking up at him. And he was still speaking in a soft tone.

"Oh," Riku said, "Thanks. My parents go out a lot so I end up having to make my own dinner sometimes."

"Jecht goes out a lot, too." Tidus said darkly. Riku didn't know how to respond to that or what Tidus was hinting at. Should he ask?

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. Tidus shook his head.

"Nevermind. It means nothing." Tidus answered.

Riku wasn't fooled, but decided Tidus would tell when the time was right. Riku reached out and touched his hand, to comfort him. As soon as they contacted, Tidus looked alarmed. His cheeks turned rosy as he pulled his hand away. Riku was surprised and tried to figure out what it meant. Tidus looked away and continued eating.

Riku wondered what to do next. He realized that desperate measures needed to be taken. Okay, so Jecht's friend was hard to reach. But in order for arranged marriages to work, both parents needed to agree. Jecht's friend wasn't biting so perhaps it was time to concentrate on Jecht himself. Jecht could call it off. But what chance did they have of that?

A snowball's chance in hell, Riku thought.

But it was worth a try.

Riku tapped his fingers on the table trying to come up with a good idea.

Meanwhile, Tidus had finished eating and was now just staring at his plate. He saw Riku noticing the sad look on his face. So the silver-haired boy tried to touch him, offer a comforting hand, but the sandy blonde refused. Not because he didn't want it. He really wanted it. But he wanted Riku to do more than just hold his hand. He wanted Riku to hold him. To put his arms around him, to stroke his hair, to whisper in his ear that everything will be all right.

"Oh gods, why am I thinking like this?" he thought aloud, which proved to be an obvious mistake.

Riku tilted his head and looked at him. What's going on in that kid's head?

Tidus looked at him and then looked away, blushing again. A mixture of embarrassment and now, he finally admitted, infatuation.

"Hey, Tidus, I think I might have something." Riku said. Reluctantly, Tidus looked at him. He didn't make eye contact.

"What?" he asked.

"I was thinking that maybe we could get Jecht to call it off instead of his friend." Riku explained. Tidus shook his head.

"Wouldn't work. There's nothing that would make him drag me out of it." Tidus stated. Riku thought for a moment.

"What if you did something that would make him want to call it off?"

Tidus tilted his head. "And that would be?"

"Well let's think for a minute. What would he hate for you to do or be the most?" Riku asked.

"A weakling, loser, something of the like." Tidus answered. Riku shook his head.

"No, something that couldn't easily be fixed. Something that would be devastating to a man like him."

Tidus tried his best to think of something, even though he wasn't really sure what Riku was trying to get at. Instead his thoughts drifted back to the older boy. He just couldn't stop thinking about how he wished Riku would…Riku would…

"I think I came up with something." Tidus said. "One thing Jecht would hate for me to be is gay. He's a homophobe."

Riku nodded. "Tidus, my man, that could be your ticket out this marriage."

"What?! You want me to tell my old man I'm gay?!" Tidus asked incredulously. "I want out of this marriage, not out of life!"

"Calm down," Riku said, holding his hands up defensively. "I think it could work."

"Yeah, it would definitely stop me from being in that marriage, but my old man would kill me. He'd kill me!"

"Well it's not like you're actually gay." Riku said. Tidus bit his lip. Riku meant it in a positive way, but…if only he knew.

"Besides," said Riku, smirking, "He probably won't kill you, if he's responsible."

Tidus blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Hey, he's always yelling at you and insulting you. So you distanced yourself from him. Because of your poor relationship with him he never taught you how to become a 'real man.' So you spent more time with your mother who helped get you into some feminine things. And one of those feminine things happened to be developing feelings for boys. Sounds like a believable story, huh?" Riku smiled satisfyingly.

"Hits a little too close to home to be a story," muttered Tidus. "And I'm not feminine."

"I know. Anyway, he feels guilty, asks what he could do, and you tell him to end the marriage arrangement now. Then you can become straight again." Riku chuckled at his idea. Tidus, however, wasn't too sure. But he was willing to try anything at this point.

"Sounds like a plan," he said forcing a smile. "I guess I should go tell him I'm 'like that,' huh?"

But Riku shook his head. Tidus looked surprised. "Now what?"

"Jecht would know you would never confess that to him. He'd get suspicious."

Tidus hadn't thought of that.

"So," Riku continued, "It order to be convincing, he's going to have to catch you."

"Catch me be gay? And how is he gonna do that?" Tidus asked, skeptical.

"Simple. He's going to have to catch you kiss a guy."

"WHAT?!"

"It's effective and realistic." Riku justified, holding his hands up in defense again. He couldn't help but smile at his reaction. Tidus looked down and pouted.

"Are you sure there isn't another way?"

"There could be. But I'm sure this could work. Positive." Riku, said sounding hopeful.

"But which guy would I kiss? Who would want to?" Tidus inquired. Riku shrugged.

"You have your choice. Wakka, Sora, or me. I'm sure the other guys…"

"You." Tidus blurted out without thought. Realizing his mistake, he quickly added, "Since you thought of the idea, you might as well suffer through it, too."

Riku gulped, but kept his cool. "Fair enough. I wouldn't mind."

Tidus knew Riku meant he'd do it because he was Tidus' friend and wanted to help that. But he couldn't help, but wonder if Riku…if….

No. Stop thinking like that.

"So, um, now what? When do we do this?" Tidus asked, timidly.

"Now is as good as time as any. Unless you want to wait."

Tidus shook his head. "Let's get it over with."

He tried to sound like he wasn't looking forward to it. Like he was disgusted at the idea and only wanted to do it was to get out of his situation. And part of him really felt that way. But the other half was looking forward to it. It made him feel kind of excited. Riku was actually going to let him kiss him. And he might actually enjoy it. But why?

"I can't believe I'm thinking like this." Tidus moaned. Riku heard, but decided not to say anything, even though he really wanted to know what was going on in the younger boy's head.

I suck at cliffhangers, but I decided to end it here. Probably not a good idea since not much happened. It sucks doesn't it? ;_;

I already know what's coming up next, but I wanted to get it up sooner for you guys. Since I'm ready for the next part, it probably won't take long to update anyway. Don't forget to review! And be sure to tell me if anything's wrong so I can correct it. And feel free to bounce ideas off of me since I'm still open to them.

Until Chapter 5.