All Because of You The Day We Met.
"I am SIXTEEN! I CAN HANDLE MY OWN BLOODY LIFE!"
"…"
"DON"T stare at me LIKE THAT! I have DONE nothing WRONG!"
"…"
"I am NOT a KID anymore for Godsakes! You can't keep me here FOREVER!"
A voice, raw with emotion, sounded throughout the two-tiered house. Sora gashed his teeth in exasperation. There was no talking to his father. He just could not get the message that little Sora was now a teenager who needed his own space. And all his father would do is keep silent, with his gaze reflecting nonchalance. He felt his eyes burn with frustrated tears. Sora's personality was often thought as one that did not allow him to sink into the depths of melancholy. But apparently, his optimistic and cheery nature could not withstand the power of raging teenage hormones. Puberty has caused Sora to suffer from mood swings and extreme emotions that could rival Selphie's dramatic displays. Matters were made worst when his only parent, his father, could not understand what he was going through.
"DAMN IT! You are not even MY REAL FATHER!"
As soon as the words flew from his lips, Sora knew he had gone too far. But he would not apologize.
"I know," the words were soft but still audible. However, Sora was too caught up in his emotions to catch the reply murmured by the only other person in the room.
Unable to deal with the confrontation anymore, Sora turned and ran up to his room, slamming the door as a final statement.
XXXXXX
As he watched the younger boy stumble up the stairs, Leon relaxed and sunk into his favourite chair. His eyes closed the moment he heard the rafters tremble from the impact of Sora abusing his room door. Everyone told him that raising a kid was hell but Leon had thought they were all joking. Sora had been a lovely kid, always out to please. But recently, the sweet child who could once be placated easily with a single cookie had morphed into an emotional roller coaster that Leon could not handle. They should have told me that raising a teenager was hell…
He wished he were back in the service dealing with enemy troops in mortal combat. At least then, I could legally strangle anyone that pissed me off.
Somewhere in the depths of a heart Leon was not aware he had, stirred an emotion both sweet and sour. Leon felt proud that Sora was becoming more independent and that he no longer needed his father to tie his shoelaces. But Leon was very afraid of Sora leaving him. Unwittingly, he had come to love the little blue-eyed boy with amusing spikes for hair. Ha ha Leon, look at what a mother hen you have become. What would happen if the boys back in the force found out about this? Seifer would have a ball
Leon knew he should do something about the situation. It was quite evident that he did not know how to relate to a sixteen year old.
For starters, Leon did not even know what the confrontation was about.
XXXXXX
It was almost nine when Leon realized that Sora would not be coming down for breakfast. Usually by this time, the father and son would be at the small dining table having a simple meal of toast and egg made by whoever woke up earlier. Leon had reached the empty kitchen and proceeded to whip up two sets of breakfast since Sora was nowhere in sight and presumably still in bed. Maybe he is too shy to come down for breakfast… considering what happened yesterday… Thus, Leon took the initiative and walked up to Sora's closed door.
Taking in a deep breath to steady himself, Leon positioned his clenched fist against the wood of Sora's room door. After he was sure he was in control of his emotions, Leon knocked onto the dark wood and asked, "Sora? What's taking you so long?"
No answer.
A glint of impatience flashed in Leon's eyes.
"Sora?"
Still no answer.
After a third try, Leon crossly opened the door as he lectured, "What do you think you are doing? Making me…." He paused, "Sora?"
Leon stood rooted to the spot, his brain unable to comprehend the fact that Sora had ran away from home. It couldn't be! I would have heard him walk past my room...
A cool sea breeze ruffled the linen curtains that lined the open window in the room, as if mocking Leon.
Sora had escaped from the house through the open window.XXXXXXCloud stood in front of the fogged up bathroom mirror. The blonde was in the buff save for a thick towel wrapped around his waist to preserve some semblance of modesty. Using a wet hand, he wiped a stroke of water vapour off the clouded mirror. Cloud did not have narcissistic tendencies. However, he could not help but wink at his own mirror image because he was looking too good to let it go unmentioned: the reflection revealed a face flushed and fresh from a morning shower. Pairs of sky blue eyes stared at each other, mimicking the glint of mischief that made the gaze just so special. His upper torso was tanned to the shade of honey bronze and sculpted to lean perfection from the active outdoor exercise regime that Cloud followed religiously, clad in only his silky running shorts. Drops of water dripped from the tips of his golden hair onto his bare chest. For once, Cloud's hair was not styled into dangerous punk spikes but flattened into a deceptively straight sheen of gold.
Finally, he broke off from his self-appraisal and felt about for something to wear. Damn. Apparently, he had forgotten that having a shower usually required a change in clothes and did not prepare a set to wear. Thus, he was left with the decision of re-wearing his dirty pajamas (with cute prints of white skulls on black cotton) or wandering out into the hallway and back into his room to fetch something clean to change into. Cloud being Cloud, obviously chose the second option and had no qualms about strutting around the house in near nothing. After all, the only other people in the house were his kid brother and another nameless stranger the former brought home the night before.
Cloud walked past his sibling's room with the sign "Screw off Strife" (complete with graphic illustrations) emblazed in blood red on a placard nailed onto the door. Three strides later, he arrived in front of his own room and was about to step into his den when he heard frantic knocking on his apartment door. Cloud contemplated leaving the irate visitor stranded on the other side of the main door but he eventually decided to risk hypothermia and answer the door.XXXXXXLeon was just about to break into the blasted apartment, when the door swung open. So instead of breaking a wooden door down with the entire force of his weight, Leon ended up crashing into the person who opened it.
Cloud only had a split second to blink before a blurred figure knocked the air out of his lungs by falling straight on top of him. His bare back met the cold marble floor and he thought he heard something crack. For a moment that felt like forever, Cloud thought he was going to die from the excruciating pain coming from the spot under his ribcage where Leon's elbow had dealt the greatest blow.
With his dark brown fringe covering his eyes, Leon could not see Cloud's face contort into pure horror as the brunette recovered from his initial shock and struggled to get into an upright position. "Don't. Move. Damnit!" Cloud's voice was strained from the pain he felt. Leon was unwittingly creating more bruises on the blond haired man's bare skin while trying to sit up. Leon paused, looking down to see Cloud's tortured expression, his hand grazing the skin below Cloud's shoulder blades. Against his will, Cloud shuddered. He could not tell whether it was the blue-eyed stranger's touch or the cold draft sweeping in from the opened door. As their eyes met, both men froze.
A Gunblade could neatly slice the thick tension between the two.
XXXXXX
Kairi needed some sugar since Tidus and Selphie had wiped out her entire hoard of sugar cubes (two family-sized boxes worth) during their last visit to her apartment. She knew inviting the two over for a tea party was not a fantastic idea but it was pretty monotonous just having tea by on her own. Would you like a cup of tea Kairi? My, my, I wouldn't dare say no to your tea Kairi. Your brew is utterly delightful, Kairi. Yeah, I can't make a decent conversation with myself… Anyway, she now had to leave the comforts of her home to buy some sweetener from the shops. Somehow or other, scones do not go well with bitter tea.Her sneakers made squeaky noises on the hallway flooring as she walked briskly past apartment No. 293. Two steps later, she paused. Something did not feel right. The girl walked back two steps. She turned her pretty head and saw: an absolutely gorgeous man, clad in a tight, tight white t-shirt with butt-clinging leather pants adorned with kinky belts. And he was sprawled over the hot blond that lived in that apartment. I knew he wasn't straight…Kairi's lashes fluttered as she kept the urge to swoon at bay. She misinterpreted the scene before her as something from the pages of one of those novels she secretly kept in the depths of her underwear drawer. She never thought that she would have an opportunity to chance upon such a thing ever! A telltale blush appeared on Kairi's cheeks as she carried on gawking at the two men. All thoughts of her task at hand evaporated.
Before Kairi could rush back to her apartment to grab her camera (she needed pictures!), the brunette turned and cast his blue gaze upon her heated face. Damn, not only does he have a nice ass, he has such a sexy frown too! Damn that Cloud, how did he get so lucky?!
"Erm… ha ha… Ignore me… I … I'm just… passing by… Carry on! Carry on!" Kairi encouraged the two hot guys to continue with what they were doing. She had no intention to take her eyes off the two for fear that she would miss something. She was persuaded that maybe it was not such a good idea to stay when the moody brunette's expression changed into something positively murderous. It seemed that it would be much safer just returning home to pen down this encounter into her online journal. Flashing the hunky stranger a shy smile, Kairi cast one last look of longing at the two guys (still lying on top of one another) before scampering back to her apartment.
Of course, she forgot about the sugar.
XXXXXX
While Leon was contemplating murder of the overtly curious redhead, Cloud felt the initial fires of pain turn into a numbing ache. It was high time he got the stranger (albeit a very good-looking stranger) off him. The blond had a very strict policy about whom he slept with. He wouldn't let any guy touch him until they have had their third date and so far, this "visitor" has already violated Cloud's personal rule of "see-no-touch".
"Ahem," Cloud cleared his throat in an attempt to capture the stranger's attention. He succeeded.
Leon turned his gaze onto the blond he was sitting on.
"Don't you think it's time you got off me?"
"You told me not to move."
"Well, I changed my mind."
"…"
"You weigh a ton. Get off!"
The brunette shrugged and tried shifting his weight to secure some balance, before attempting to stand up.
"Don't move!"
"You said move."
"Well, try moving without having to stick your knee into my gut!" Cloud cried. The pain Leon had once again inflicted on the blond caused tears to sparkle in Cloud's eyes.
Leon's expression visibly darkened at Cloud's complaint. Well, sensitivity was not really one of his best qualities was it?
"Do you want me to move, or not?"
"Yes… NO! Wait… okay… it doesn't hurt that much anymore… Now, move carefully!"
With one swift move, Leon stood up.
Cloud waited and waited. He was expecting the raven-haired stranger to offer some assistance in getting up. But Leon did not seem to understand courtesy.
"Ahem"
"What?"
"Aren't you going to help me up?"
Reluctantly, Leon offered a gloved hand to Cloud.
Taking full advantage of the assistance offered, Cloud dragged himself up and forgot to let go of the hand till he felt Leon's hostile stare. Urgh… Jerk.
XXXXXX
Leon was getting impatient.
He had not gotten much sleep on the hard motel bed the night before. He checked into a cheap highway motel after he realised that he could drive no further without risking crashing into the nearest road sign. The lady at the counter was too friendly with him and refused to let go of Leon's hand when he tried to take the room key from her. The brunette blatantly refused the older lady's advances by activating his deadly stare. However, the lady mistook Leon's death stare as being shy and her grubby hand wandered up his shirt. Leon was at a loss at what to do and could only try to keep his shirt from being ripped into shreds by the anxious motel lady. Thankfully, a burly 6"8 tall man with an unshaven chin walked into the room and told his wife to stop harassing the customers. It was only then that Leon was able to escape from the counter lady's unsavoury attention.
The room was painted (?) a gaudy green and it reminded Leon of the putrid green pea soup they served back at the military cafeteria. He highly suspected that the motel owners were underpaying their room service staff (either that or the cleaners went on strike). There were still a few empty pizza boxes and crushed beer cans littered on the dusty floor. Leon started to think that maybe sleeping in his jeep would have been a better alternative when he spotted a few roaches conducting a public rendezvous amidst the rubbish around the overflowing dustbin.
Yet, Leon was too damn tired and would rather slum it with a bunch of harmless cockroaches than risk another bout with the frisky receptionist in order to get back to his jeep. Instead, he spread his leather jacket onto the deceptively clean bed and slept on the soft leather. Leon was tired physically, but mentally, he was going into over drive as he tried to figure out why Sora had ran away.
XXXXXX
Sora had ran away from home, leaving only a cryptic message:
"You don't love me anymore! Your ex-son, Sora"This first thing that Leon felt was shock, which was closely followed by guilt and it ended up with him feeling as worried as hell. Where could Sora have gone?!
Images of adorable Sora hitching a ride with a psycho killer, or Sora being sold into slavery (?!) coloured Leon's vivid imagination. He had to go after his son but he did not know where little Sora went. Thus, Leon took the liberty of ransacking boy's room, as it was the most likely place to find any indication to where Sora may be.
The only clue he had to Sora's whereabouts was what he could deduce from hacking into Sora's desktop computer. He had found a saved chat under a folder labelled "Private". Though the file was password-locked, Leon easily broke the code after typing in permutations of Sora's name (Sora/Oras/Raso/Asor etc…). The saved chat was between Sora who was called "spikey-boy", and a person that went by the nickname "Silver".
The gist of the conversation was that Sora had planned on running away, and "Silver" had given him his address.
Leon had the address scribbled onto scrap piece of paper before grabbing his wallet, cell phone and car keys for an impromptu road trip. On route to the city where the address was located Leon called Yuffie on his cell phone and ordered her to take care of house and feed the dog. Even in times of emergency, one had to remember to take care of the practical stuff.
XXXXXX
When he woke up at the break of dawn to find the ceiling of his motel room leaking (from a flood in the room above), Leon gave up trying to go back to sleep and decided to get back on the road. It took him two hours to get to the city, where he was caught up in the rush-hour traffic. After a gruelling battle with ferocious cab drivers and late office workers, Leon turned into a street called "Destiny Isle" and searched for a spot to park his worn out jeep. By the time he found somewhere that was not taken or illegal to stop, it was already mid afternoon and his stomach was grumbling from ill treatment.
Taking scrap paper out and verifying he had gotten the right location, Leon walked into the building.
The place was posh and Leon could tell that the tenants of the building must be pretty wealthy to afford plush carpeting covering the spiral stairways and air-conditioned corridors. It made Leon wonder what sort of person "Silver" was and what trouble Sora has gotten into.
He told the guard at the door that he was looking for a specific apartment and was promptly directed the correct stairs to take. As he hurried up the carpeted steps, his imagination went wild with scenarios that he thought Sora might be caught in. He could have been lured into the home of a perverted old man with a fetish for adorable young boys like my Sora… or even worse,, Sora could be being forced to… to…
With more graphic scenes popping to mind, Leon was in near panic when he arrived the apartment he had been searching for. There was no doorbell so he was able to vent his anxiety against the innocent door. He received no immediate response and proceeded in his attempt to break down the down.
He had not expected to fall onto Cloud.
XXXXXX
"What the hell do you think you are doing in here? Were you about to break down my door?! Can't you even apologize for crashing into me? What were you trying to do in the first place, Trespasser? Kill me? Hey! Who said you could sit on that couch!!! It's my favourite lounging spot! NO! Take off your shoes! Do you hear me? You are stepping all over the white rug!!! Mom will kill me!" Cloud railed against the brunette.
Leon ignored Cloud, oblivious to the fact that he was trespassing on private property. It was a pretty ridiculous picture that Cloud made: Ranting at a non-responsive stranger and forgetting that he was clad in only a towel, hung precariously on his hips.
There was only one thought on Leon's mind. "Where is my son?"
Cloud blinked, the question came from out of the blue and it caught him off guard. "Eh? What sun? You can't see the sun if the curtains are drawn."
No reply.
"Oh… my Son? Your son…" an incredulous look plastered itself onto Cloud's face. "We have a son?"
The reply Cloud got was a frosty blue look that made the blond feel downright stupid.
"You have a son?"
"Where is Sora?"
"Eh? Sora…" The name was distinctively feminine and since this stranger had a son, the logical conclusion was that Sora was this man's wife. "Your wife?"
"No. My son," Leon paused, "I am not attached."
Cloud did not know why, but he felt his heart skip a beat when he heard that "Sora" was not the brunette's wife. Does that mean he is single? Do I get a chance… Waitaminute. What the hell am I thinking?! He gave his head a little shake. Apparently, he must have knocked his head hard during the fall to start contemplating his chances with the dark and moody stranger.
A wave of cool air blew through the opened door. Cloud shuddered and looked down at his very bare self. Chewing on his bottom lip in embarrassment, he turned away from Leon and muttered, "I am going to get something to wear. DON'T you dare move from that couch!"
The blond man paused just as he was about to step into his room, "Your name is?"
"Leon"
"And I am Cloud. Now that we can be considered acquaintances, would you mind closing the front door for me?"
The brunette gave Cloud an irate glare but stood up to do the latter's bidding. Cloud grimaced at his apartment door being slammed closed before stepping into the privacy of his bedroom.
While the time slipped by as Cloud took his own sweet time dressing up, Leon took the opportunity to calm himself. Logically, he knew he was being an ass to the poor, underdressed blond. However, rationality took a vacation the moment Sora ran away and Leon did not know how to deal with the current situation except by behaving cold and anti-social. He was afraid that if he let his emotions go for one moment, he would not be able to handle the consequences. With a heavy sigh, Leon collapsed again onto the soft couch (without taking off his leather boots). He closed his eyes, the weariness engulfing him as he was pulled into a dream state of mind.
XXXXXX
"Papa! Papa! Look at me!" a sweet child's voice called out to Leon.
Leon turned from the papers he was reading to look at the little boy seated behind a low table covered with bottles of paints and coloured paper. On his left cheek, the boy had two streaks of green paint smudged on his rosy skin. Leon smiled.
"What do you have there Sora?"
The little boy's blue eyes sparkled like the glitter that was scattered among his spikey brown hair. "A card! For you!"
"For me? Why?"
"Because I love you Papa!"
Leon took the paper card from his son's chubby hands. For the first time in his life, Leon felt is vision blur from the sudden burst of emotion he felt for the adorable boy before him.
"Papa papa! Are you crying? Don't cry!! I didn't want to make you sad…"
Leon didn't know whether to cry or laugh at his son's absolutely lovably words of concern…
XXXXXX
Cloud had gone back to his room to put on fresh underwear, a sleeveless black turtleneck top and a pair of denim jeans. With half a bottle of hair wax and twenty minutes in front of his mirror, Cloud's flaxen hair had resumed to its famous spiked hairdo. While his hands worked their way mindless to shape each individual spike of wheat gold hair, Cloud's mind wandered to the newly acquainted person in his living room.
Despite a degree in psychology, Cloud was hopeless at reading people. However, his amiable and energetic personality has proven to be a reliable tool in making him a success in many social circles. Though he did not know what the moody stranger in his apartment wanted, Cloud thought that it would the natural thing to do if he made an effort to understand Leon (and of course, the bit about Leon being terribly attractive did help Cloud in his decision to get to know the brunette better). Thus, Cloud took one last look at his reflection in the mirror and put on a friendly smile before returning to living room to confront Leon.
XXXXXX
Leon felt fluttering fingertips brush against his tensed brow. The warmth that radiated from the gentle touches tickled him and he could not keep a smile from escaping to his lips. Semi-consciously, Leon's hands caught the playful fingers that caressed his face. He heard a soft gasp and his smile widened. Without opening his eyes, Leon thumbed the palms he had imprisoned in his own. What he expected was the soft and nimble fingers belonging to his little Sora His mischievous son liked to tease him when he was trying to take a lazy afternoon nap. But Sora did not have hands that fit perfectly intertwined with his own fingers. Sora did not have hands that felt as warm as the sun on a spring morning. Leon snapped open his eyes to find Cloud looking bewildered at him, before both their gazes drifted down to their interlocked fingers. It took two full seconds before something clicked in Leon's brain and he jerked back his hands, releasing Cloud's own fingers.
Cloud did not know what drove him to do what he did. All he knew that he could not resist the urge to smoothen the slight wrinkles (caused by his worry for Sora) on the sleeping man's face. Embarrassed by his action, Cloud's baby blue eyes fell to a spot on the white rug beneath his unclad feet.
"Do… do you want something to drink?"
The quiet brunette barely nodded his head before Cloud took his cue to escape behind the kitchen counter on the other side of the living room.
In an attempt to chase away the vestiges of sleep that he felt, Leon shook his head and stood up to do a slight stretch. Then, feeling much more sociable than he was before he had his little nap, Leon walked to seat himself on a barstool placed in front of the kitchen counter and watched Cloud pour them both a glass of milk each.
Leon picked up the glass that Cloud offered him and just before his lips touched its rim, he paused and said, "Sorry for intruding."
Replying with a soft smile, Cloud said, "Apology accepted."
An awkward silence descended upon the two.
"So… why are you… here?"
It took a while before Leon could gather his thoughts and reply the curious blond. "I am looking for my son."
"Ya ya, I got that," Cloud nodded.
"… He ran away…"
"He did? Why? How old is he? You must be worried sick!"
"If you are going to keep interrupting me, how am I going to tell you what happened?!"
"Okay… sorry. My bad… carry on, carry on…"
"His name is Sora. He just turned sixteen two week ago…"
"Oh hell! How old were you when you had him!?! You can't be past thirty!"
A cold stare, Cloud got the message and shut up.
"I am twenty seven. Sora is not my real son but my foster son. You don't need to know the details."
"Oh… alright."
"As I was saying, he ran away and the only clue I have about his whereabouts is this address." Leon took out the scrap piece of paper with Cloud's address on it.
"I don't know anybody called Sora… could you describe him?"
"He is this tall," Leon indicated to the space beside his shoulder. "Light blue eyes, baby-face, fair-skinned and a head full of spikes."
Cloud pointed to his own prized spikes, "Like mine?"
"No, his hair is naturally spikey."
"Ouch." Cloud brushed the 'hurtful' comment aside and said, "Well, I am pretty sure that there is no sixteen year old lurking around here… waitaminute… what does Sora usually dress in?"
Leon answered, "Any red t-shirt with a waterproof vest, silly crown-shaped necklace, balloon pants and sneakers."
"Does his sneakers happen to be really big?"
"Sora makes me buy him shoes three times his shoe size."
"Do they happen to be submarine yellow?"
"…yes."
"Do you know how Sora got this address?"
Leon told Cloud about the online chat conversation.
"I think I know who 'silver' is."
Cloud stormed out from behind the kitchen counter and headed for his brother's room. The brat had some explaining to do.
"RIKU!"
XXXXXX
Muttering a couple of his favourite curses, Cloud kicked opened the door to his brother's room.
The room was simple, clean and… empty.
From behind him, Cloud heard the drawl in Leon's voice as he said, "Déjà vu. Looks like someone has gone missing too."
Everything started clinking into place in Cloud's mind as he recalled the events that occurred the night before….
XXXXXX
… "Riku, are you sure it's alright that we do this?"
"Don't worry. My brother doesn't give a damn about what I do as long as we keep it quiet."
"Oh… okay."
Cloud was woken up by a whispered conversation. He squinted at the digital clock by this bedside and it was one in the morning. He had no idea what he little brother was up to but the fact was, Riku had woken him up from a nice dream. An irritated Cloud got up drowsily and walked into the hallway.
"Keep it down Riku!"
"Go back to sleep Cloud!"
Cloud grumbled to himself about how Riku should learn how to respect as he walked towards the kitchen to get something to drink. He did not realise that had fallen asleep against the fridge until he heard the heavy footsteps belonging to his brother and friend. Opening his eyes just slightly, Cloud was blinded by the luminous yellow of a pair of huge sneakers (okay, maybe he was exaggerating a little… but the shoes were really bright!). The shoes were nearly as large as the ones Riku likes to wear. The two boys were heading out the front door.
"Where are you going?"
"We are going to take out the trash."
"Oh."
Cloud sleepily watched the boys leave before crawling back to his room and collapsing onto his bed.
XXXXXX
"He told me he was just going to take out the trash!"
Leon had no idea what the blond was ranting about.
"I cannot believe that little monster took off and left!"
Leon just gave Cloud a questioning look.
"My brother obviously ran away from home too."
"…and?"
"He took your son with him!"
It took a few seconds for Leon to comprehend what Cloud was talking about. When the brunette finally spoke, Cloud cringed at Leon's choice of swear words. Silence filled Riku's room while both men contemplated on how to deal with the runaway teenagers. Unable to tolerate stillness, Cloud spoke.
"So… what do we do now?"
"We?"
"Well, Riku is with your son isn't he?"
"…" The idea of working with Cloud did not sound appealing, Leon preferred working alone. Without noise… or any distractions.
"Hey! Don't look at me like that! I am the innocent party here. Maybe even a victim too is my mom finds out that her prodigal son ran away with another guy…" Cloud decided that it was not a wise choice of conversation (judging from Leon's darkening expression) and swiftly changed the topic, "Well, what are we going to do?"
"We are going to find them."
XXXXXX
The bus was due to arrive in half and hour. Two figures waited patiently on a bench lined against the wall of the bus depot. The place was deserted save for the two teenagers and a station employee taking a mid-day snooze behind the ticketing counter.
Riku suddenly sneezed. Twice. Sora could not help but grin at the adorable expression left plastered on Riku's face because of the unexpected attack of sniffles. The silver haired teen turned his head away, he pale face flushed pink from the embarrassment felt. Sora's smile widened a fraction as he observed Riku's shy action. Moving closer towards Riku, Sora leaned sideways and whispered into his ear, "They say that when you sneeze once, someone is thinking of you. If you sneeze twice, then someone is longing for you."
Upon feeling Sora's warm breath against the sensitive skin behind his ears, Riku felt his face turn a sweet shade of strawberry red. After a heartbeat, Sora continued, with his most sincere voice, "Sorry Riku. For making you sneeze that is."
Before Sora could slide an arm around Riku's slender waist, the latter stood up and said, "Bathroom." Watching Riku disappear into the distance, Sora could not help but laugh out loud. So far, this road trip is proving to be an interesting experience.
To be continued…
