Notes: I'm having trouble thinking of different things to happen. I looked back on the first few chapters, and it seemed a lot like the other millions of romantic Kingdom Hearts fanfictions I have read before ^^;;. But, I'll do my best to try to make it different. Kairi's turn to angst, and more Sora/Riku potential in this chapter! Also, it only changes POV once in this chapter, since I can tell it easier from Sora's.
A special note: I understand your need to express how you feel about homosexuality. I have no problem with you saying that you dislike this. But first of all, you do not have to read something that has involvement with homosexuality if you do not think it's "right". Also, I believe gender does not impose on love in the first place, which is why I try to balance the involvement with both types of couples. I know plenty of gay boys who do not CARE how popular they are, and they strongly believe in their sexual orientation. I, too, do not care how popular I am with my peers, as long as I stand up for what I believe is right. Trust me, some people I know would punch someone right back if they saw them punch out a homosexual guy. You can go ahead and hunt me down, if you are really desperate, try and find out where I live. In the meantime, it is your choice whether you want to read this fanfiction or not.
***
After spending the rest of the day with Selphie, Kairi started to head home herself. She wandered out to the beach when she saw a curious sight. Sora and Riku were walking together and talking with each other. She noticed that Sora was standing EXTRA close to Riku…a little closer than she would of liked for him to be.
"No, stop it. You're being irrational again. You can't assume anything without solid evidence," she tried to reason with herself. Still there was still something in her mind that had doubts. She had nothing to go on except her own suspicions…and yet….
She couldn't stand the thought of loosing Sora. Not now…she can't be having doubts now! It was too soon for this wonderful dream to end.
::Maybe it is just a dream. My own fantasy that I'm only allowed to have for a moment…then gone from reality…:: she thought to herself, feeling terrible that she and Sora might not last very long, and then feeling guilty that she didn't have total faith in Sora.
::I have to trust him. It's important that I do,:: she thought as she watched the two of them walk away…off in their own world. She always felt even from the very beginning that she was interfering with their deep friendship. They had something that she felt Sora and she could never have. A deep bond that went beyond a silly teenage love, a friendship that could last for eternity, no matter what would happen. Sure, she and Sora had been very good friends before they knew they liked each other. But it was nothing like the friendship between he and Riku.
How could she be loosing faith so soon? Perhaps it was something that all couples her age went through…a small period where you're afraid that you'll loose the person you love after you have finally declared your feelings and were together. Yes, that had to be it, especially since Sora was her first love. That had to be a common thing to think about when you're just starting a relationship. She went over this several times in her head to try and reassure herself. It didn't prevent suspicions from arousing up, but it helped her to keep her faith in their relationship. Her trust in Sora couldn't start wavering; they had barely been together for two days!
She smiled and tried to stay cheerful. She would make sure that she would think nothing like that ever again. And she would make sure that Sora would know that she definitely loved him, in case he would ever suspect that she had doubts.
***
The next morning, Sora lay in bed for a while, since he had plenty to think about. He recalled everything that had happened yesterday…first the afternoon with Kairi. He had definitely enjoyed being with her. It almost didn't seem real. He grinned at the memory of the look of pleasure on her face as he whispered into her ear and constantly stroked her face. It had been like a dream, and everything had fit together so perfectly.
Yet, there was still Riku, who had gotten angry with him, and was obviously very jealous. A feeling of fear rose up to Sora's chest, and he began to feel dizzy. It was all too confusing, and yet, every last bit of it made sense. He finally admitted to himself that Riku had to like him, at least a little more than a friend. It was still questionable, but in the meantime that's what he would assume.
There was, however, still something that didn't make sense to him. They way he felt sometimes when he was with Riku almost seemed like he was…in love with him. He would get nervous sometimes, and he always recalled the pounding of his heart, and then a jolt of nerves spread from his lower stomach up to his chest. That same fluttery feeling he always felt around Kairi…sometimes he'd have that with Riku! It wasn't possible…how could he love two people? Especially two people that both loved him back? If it was true that he had feelings for Riku, and if it was the same the other way around…then he would have to choose. But before he could think about anything like that, he had to confirm how Riku felt for him, and how he could of possibly felt for Riku.
It wasn't going to be easy…he knew that this would weigh on his mind all day, especially when he was with Kairi. Oh God, Kairi! What would she think of him if she knew he had potential feelings for Riku? Would she break up immediately? What if she already suspected something?? How did things become so complicated?
He wished he could go back just a couple of days…when he first asked Kairi to be his girlfriend. He would of made sure he had never stepped out of his room that night when he had passed out after getting nervous about Riku. Maybe if that hadn't happened, he wouldn't be in this situation.
In the meantime, he would try not to think about it, or work out something later in his mind. He went outside, and saw Kairi there waiting for him as usual.
"God, Sora, you love to sleep in, don't you," Kairi teased.
"I need my sleep!" Sora protested. She laughed and smiled up at her boyfriend.
"I'm only teasing, silly," she informed him.
Even with the thought of having to find out how Riku felt about him weighing on his mind, he still managed to enjoy his time with Kairi as much as usual.
***
That evening, Sora knew he had to find Riku. He didn't want to face this, he did not want to find out how Riku felt about him. But he knew he had to…he had to face it sometime, for it was inevitable that one way or another he would know the truth. At least, he figured, he would be in control of this situation.
He saw Riku in his usual spot, and took a deep breath. Finally, after about five minutes of hesitation, he managed to approach Riku. It felt like his entire body was shaking, even inside of him seemed to be shivering. It felt like his heart was jumping so much it had reached all the way up to his throat.
"Um, Ri-ku?" Sora said, his voice shaking.
Riku looked up, and saw Sora's fearful face. He noticed that his friend was shaking all over; he could even see his hands shivering. It took every ounce of control he was capable of having to try not to make an attempt to comfort his beautiful friend…calm him down, hold him close and stroke his hair, telling him over and over that whatever it is was going to be okay…
Sora noticed the deep look Riku was giving him, and he was even more uncomfortable, if possible, than he was before. He knew that look; it was one that he received from Kairi daily whenever they were together.
"What is it?" Riku asked, while still giving Sora that dreamy look.
Sora knew the question had to come out. He had to be sure, he didn't want to be uncertain anymore. He was already not sure of too many things, at least one of these had to be resolved.
"Dyulikme?" he said, muffling all the words together.
"What??" Riku said.
"Do…you…like me?" Sora asked again a little more understandably.
Riku was paralyzed. He had asked him this once before, but now it looked like he really wanted to know. It wasn't the way he would of ever imagined having to finally admit his feelings. Therefore, he tried out a way around it.
"Well, you are my best friend. So I do like you," he answered. It wasn't exactly a lie.
"I mean do you like me more as a friend!" Sora practically shouted, not because he was angry, but because it was becoming too much for him to handle not knowing the truth.
"Sora, calm down," Riku told him.
"Please, Riku, I need to know. I haven't been sure of anything lately and I need to know the truth right now because…because I thought I had a handle on all of my feelings, but now everything's so confusing and I don't know where my feelings are going,and if I can be sure of anything right now, it has to be this so please, tell me!!" Sora exclaimed. He was shaking worse than ever, and was on the verge of tears. Everything he'd been feeling for the past couple of days (almost everything) had finally come out, and it was almost too much.
He felt the tears begin to swell up in his eyes, and he silently cursed at them. He immediately wiped his eyes, but it only made it worse. When he had to blink, he felt a single drop fall onto his eyelashes as it blurred his vision. The water finally fell, despite the trouble he went through to prevent it from being seen. He tried to prevent the rest of the water building up the best way he could, but at that point they slowly started streaming down his face.
Riku noticed the single teardrop fall to the ground, and watched it disappear into the sand. It was like watching snowflakes melt in your hand; something so beautiful that you could hold onto for just a second, and in a matter of seconds, gone, forever.
He noticed more water building up in Sora's eyes. Soon enough, there were pearly tears streaking down his face. He reached out a hand, but almost seemed hesitant, in fear that his touch would be immediately rejected. But nothing could prevent him from reaching out to his friend, especially when he needed comfort the most, and despite his fears, placed a hand on Sora's cheek. He wiped away another forming tear on Sora's eyes, and after doing so, began stroking his face. Sora shuddered under the touch of his gentle hands and enjoyed the sensation of Riku's fingers traveling down his cheek all the way to his lower chin. He felt his face being tilted up, and could almost feel what was going to happen next. He felt Riku's free hand being placed around his waist as he was pulled closer to his body. He could feel Riku's steady heartbeat, (he seemed to be pretty calm about all of this, he thought) against his own racing one. Riku began to get closer and closer to Sora's face until their lips were inches away from touching.
"Does this answer your question?" Riku whispered, with his mouth just barely touching Sora's. He let him go and began walking away.
Sora could only stand there in absolute shock.
"That…that was dirty!" Sora exclaimed.
"But it still worked," Riku laughed.
Sora glared, and almost pouted at Riku. When he saw Sora doing this, he began laughing again.
"You're too cute," he told him.
Sora gaped at Riku. What in the world was going on in his mind?!
"Am not!" was the only reply Sora could give.
Riku snickered, and motioned for Sora to follow him. Sora was actually surprised at the way he was feeling. He was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, until Riku came and comforted him. Somehow, even though it had stunned him for a while, he had felt better when Riku came to him like that. Also, he wondered why Riku was acting so calm and almost cheerful. Maybe he himself felt relieved to finally show how he felt.
They walked off and kept talking as if none of that had ever happened. Riku had whole-heartedly admitted to loving Sora, and he didn't even feel uncomfortable around Riku for it. It was not how Sora had expected it to be. He had almost expected to be extremely uncomfortable around Riku now, as it would be the same with Riku. There was just something special between them, not necessarily feelings of romance, just a special bond of a deep friendship that could be broken by nothing.
::I think I love you too, Riku.::
~***~
Ending Notes: Wow, I never thought I would get reviews. Thanks! It actually helped me to finish this chapter. I think I'm probably just going to stick to romance for now. It has good emotional impact. Sora ALMOST admitted to liking Riku ^^! This will, however, cause great problems with Kairi -_-; Poor Sora…
I hope this isn't going too fast. I'm really picky about plot and relationship development. I know that they need to get somewhere, so I have to move it along. But I guess it's okay since neither couples are making out in the second chapter. I also noticed there are a great deal of spaces between my really short paragraphs. I try to keep them short, actually, because I can't stand reading long paragraphs even in a book. I just REALLY need reading glasses. Sorry I keep changing the chapters it's a habit of mine to go back and revise my stories. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and never think anything I do will be good enough until I think it is. I'll stop babbling now.