Don't you love the life you killed

The Priest is on the phone

Your father hit the wall

Your ma disowned you

Don't suppose I'll ever know

What it means to be a man

Something I can't change

I'll live around it.

In the middle of the night/head on my pillow/looking like a little ghost/Seems like all of the things/ that you gave me mother/have all gone up in smoke/In the middle of the night/you don't know what I'm thinking/but still the stars do sparkle and shine/Seems like all of the time/our boat was slowly sinking/you didn't even seem to mind///Now all I wanna do/Is sleep.

DANGER! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

Ok, um, I don't want to change the rating of the whole fic for one dinky chapter, so I'm gonna give you fair warning.

THERE WILL BE MUCH CURSING IN THIS CHAPTER. SLURS /WILL/ BE USED. IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE I MUST STRESS THAT YOU DO /NOT/ READ THIS CHAPTER BUT READ THE SUMMARY AT THE BOTTOM.

Was that a fair enough warning?

Agh, I HATE work! I have to work every damned day from now until Christmas; and they stuck me in SHOES for TWO HOURS! What the hell? I'm a cashier! Friggin' people. 'Do you have this in a 6?' I dunno. Why don't /you/ go look. You have just as good a chance as I do of finding the damned thing. And those people work on commission, so then I feel bad. I feel like I'm stealing from them. So they give me a list with their numbers and...

Oh, wait. I'm ranting, aren't I?

Might as well rant about the story. I had a hard time deciding the timeframe for this. Yeah. I couldn't figure out if I should do it immediately or let them have a few days to settle in before tearing everything violently apart (in fact, I'm still think about it right now. But I guess it doesn't make much of a difference.). Well for those of you with tough shells, read on and PUMP THE TECHNO MUSIC!

+++

That morning, Riku's mother woke up early to make breakfast for her family. She dressed in a floral-print sundress, wearing a pair of house slippers. For an older woman, she was actually quite lovely. Her thin black hair flowed down to her mid-forearm and ended in loose curls from wearing it in a bun so often. Her face was gentle and loving. Her eyes, which she had passed on to her son, were full of joy. She had small laugh lines around her eyes and mouth. Her lips were thin and naturally rosy in hue. It was easy to see where Riku got his beauty from.

She sighed as she looked over at her sleeping husband. Even asleep, he looked quite dangerous. He was tall and thick. Not fat, but muscular. The silver hair his son had inherited from him was short, the longest part ending just above his ears while the rest was tapered to his neck. His eyelids concealed a pair of cold, pale blue eyes. His forehead was wrinkled from worry and most likely scowling. She wondered what had attracted her to him in the first place. He had an odd way of showing affection and seemed to shut out everyone but his family.

'But he shuts out Riku too.' She looked at him sadly. He even seemed to dislike their only child. Riku never seemed good enough for him. Even though he had the best fighting skills of any of the children on the island (before his disappearance, anyway) and a perfect record at school, there always seemed to be some kind of flaw in him that no one could see but his father. She hated him for that, but she mused that somewhere deep down, he truly loved their son.

She sighed again and left the room, deciding to see how her son and his friend were doing. She crept silently to the door and pushed it open. She was both amused and afraid by what met her eyes.

It was a bit before dawn, but a little bit of sunlight peeked through the window to reveal Riku and Sora lying in each other's arms. At first she assumed it was a friendly embrace. After all, they had probably been apart those past two years and were glad to be together again. But she was not dumb, and slowly let it sink in that they were lovers. This didn't bother her; she loved her son and only wanted him to be happy. 'But... What will his father say?' She was just about to speak up and tell them to stop when she heard footsteps coming down the hall.

Too late.

"What are you staring at, dear?" He inquired of his wife's position at the doorway and was soon at her side. He, however, did not react with as much compassion as she had.

He marched into the room, grabbing his son by the shoulders and throwing him to the ground. Sora sat straight up in shock. He looked over to the woman in the hallway and got out as quickly as possible. "Shit." He muttered under his breath as he left.

Riku stood up and looked his father in the eye. "What the hell was that for?" He nearly yelled.

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me!" He glared through his glasses. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, lying in bed with another boy? People are going to think you're a queer!"

"So what if they do?" Riku matched his father's intensity, while still trying not to scream at him. "It doesn't bother me."

"You have no dignity, do you? You don't give a fuck if you disgrace your family. Nancy. Your hair makes you look like a damn girl. Now you're in bed with... /him/, like that? You're becoming a fruit, aren't you?"

"So what if I am? You've never seemed to care about what I did before. I guess it's only when I do something you don't like that you start taking an interest in my life." He stated calmly.

"Is that what you've been doing while you were gone? You've been off with your faggot friend Sora? He's turned you into a little fairy? I never did like him. Always soft."

Oh, now Riku was mad. "DON'T TALK ABOUT SORA THAT WAY!"

"Why not?" Their faces were inches apart. "Why shouldn't I talk about him that way?" He sneered.

"Because I love him!" Oh no, bad move, Riku, /bad/ move.

'SMACK!' Riku's father backhanded his son's face, sending the boy to the floor.

"I WILL NOT HAVE MY SON GALLIVANTING AROUND WITH SOME... SOME HOMO!" His teeth were gritted and one could almost feel the heat emanating from his eyes.

"Well FUCK you! You don't own me! I can 'gallivant' with whomever I feel like! I don't care if you accept us or not, you homophobic bastard." Riku stood and snorted at his father.

The man's rage seemed to subside and was replaced by contempt as he looked into his son's eyes. "You're right." He sneered. "I don't own you. But I do own this house, and I want you and your little fag boyfriend out of it right now."

"No problem." Riku glared at him one more time before turning on his heel and walking out in a dignified manner.

As he walked downstairs he spotted Sora and his mother sitting on the couch in the living room. He grabbed Sora's arm and began to drag him to the door. "We're leaving now."

"Wait! What happened? I just heard a lot of yelling." Sora inquired, rooting himself to the spot.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we're not welcome here." Riku stared coldly into the other boy's eyes.

"Wha-... He-He kicked you out? But he's your father! He's supposed to... Where will you go?" He looked at his friend with concern.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry." His mother had come to join them. "I was going to say something just before he came. I knew he'd... Oh, Riku." She threw her arms around her son, gently stroking his hair.

"Hey, you can do something about this, right? I mean, you're his wife." Sora looked at her imploringly.

She released her hold and turned to face the younger boy. "I wish I could." She looked down. "But... It's very complicated. As his wife, I must respect his wishes. It's how I was brought up."

"Dad must have been brought up to hate people like me. I never knew what I'd done wrong. He's just always... /hated/ me." Riku looked at the floor.

"He doesn't /hate/ you... He's just always held you to some impossible standard, and I guess that ruined whatever relationship you might've had." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll still love you, dear. I just want you to be happy." She smiled kindly at him.

"Thanks mom." He hugged her for a moment, then turned away. "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know." She stated plainly. "You just... Go where the wind takes you. You'll find your place in time."

"But... What if I want my place to be here?" He looked back at her; his eyes showed a deep sorrow and longing.

"It won't be easy, not with the path you've chosen. Do you really want to be with Sora?"

"Yes." He instinctively wrapped his arm around the boy's waist.

"Then you have chosen a difficult path indeed." She looked out the window at the rising sun. "I wish you both the best of luck. Love is hard to find, and even harder to understand. Everything will work out someday." She looked back at them, a twinkle in her eye. "It always does."

Riku nodded and took Sora's hand, leading him out of the house. They walked until they reached the dock behind Sora's house again. Riku heaved a deep sigh and sat at the end with his head in his hands. "What now?"

Sora sat next to him, draping his arm around his love's waist, resting his head on his shoulder.

"I don't know."

+++

SUMMARY! WOO! YAY! HOUPLA!

Ok, big long character descriptions of Riku's parents. Notice how I have not named them. His mommy's pretty, got longer hair than Riku (it's black, BTW) and the same color eyes. She also has laugh lines and is generally happy. His dad's an ass. You can tell even when he's sleeping. Yep. Short silver hair, pale blue eyes, and worry lines on his forehead. Um, oh yeah! So, his mommy goes to check on them and sees them in a rather compromising position. She's just about to speak up when Riku's dad busts down the door and throws Riku on the ground. (Bastard!) Sora runs away (I would too. I don't like being around other people's parents when they're pissed off) and Riku's daddy is very mean to his widdle baby boy. He calls Riku some nasty things. Riku brushes it off. His dad insults Sora. Riku gets pissed and lets it slip (well, maybe not slip exactly) that he and Sora are in love. He gets backhanded and called some more nasty names. Riku says some rude things back and gets kicked out of the house. On his way out he talks to Sora and his mommy. His mommy feels all bad and stuff but says there's nothing she can do. Then she offers some weird advice and wishes them luck in finding a place to fit in. Riku drags Sora to the dock behind Sora's house and asks what they're supposed to do now. Sora doesn't know.

DUN Dun duuuun, dramatic reverb! So, what new trials lay ahead for our young lovers? Will this all end tragically? Why doesn't Kairi have a damned extra bedroom? What about Sora's house? It's empty now, right (mean as it sounds)? Why don't they live there? Oh, yeah, no money. Should they get off their lazy asses and get a job? WHY DON'T YOU GET A DAMN JOB? I HAVE TO DEAL WITH ANNOYING CUSTOMERS FOR 8 HOURS- oh, ranting again. Oops. Yep.

"Then you have chosen a difficult path indeed."

If I could turn this chapter into a movie, I would. It was a lot more violent in my head than it seems here. The fight was really horrific. I also learned that faggot means 'failure'. Go figure. Meh. I bought vol. 3 of Chobits. Gonna go read it now. Lalala...

Your voice is small and fading

And you're hiding here alone

And your Mother loves your Father

Cuz she's got nowhere to go

And she wonders where these dreams go

Cuz the world got in her way

What's the point in ever trying?

Nothing's changing anyway.