Oh wow. *melts* Thank you guys so much for your reviews! I got up extra-early today so I could get this chapter finished and posted for you all! ^^ I'm so glad that Paine's characterization went over well... I was really worried about it for a while there. Phew! But before I forget, I should probably point out that Riku's jealousy and jumping to conclusions all stems from the video game itself, when Riku thinks Sora is just running around playing hero with his new friends and has totally forgotten about him and Kairi. That said...
Enjoy chapter three!
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One for the Band - Chapter Three
'Stand Off'
After an hour of sitting on the steps waiting, Sora realized Riku wasn't coming. Trying to keep his mind in check as he went to give Riku a fourth call, Sora couldn't help but start thinking in terms of the worst case scenario. What if Riku had gotten in a car crash? The thought was practically absurd, since Riku was the best driver Sora knew, but it was still possible... Or what if Riku had just forgotten about the entire thing and gone off to do something else? The worst thing Sora could possibly think was that Riku had just decided not to come.
Well things just sucked. It was nearly unbelievable how things had drifted from amazingly wonderful to rock bottom in less then half an hour.
"Hey, this is Riku. I'm not here right now, leave a message and I'll get back to you." The cell phone's answering message ended with a small beep and Sora sighed.
"Hey, Riku... It's Sora... Umm... I guess you're not coming... But that's okay. We'll just, ah, make plans for another day, okay? ....Later."
Sora stared at the phone in his hand a moment before actually hanging it up. On top of feeling completely rejected by his best friend, Sora now found himself with nothing to do on a Friday night. His mother's note she'd left him said she might not be back until around midnight, since she'd gone off with her own friends for the afternoon. Ugh, even Bryna had friends who wouldn't just up and abandon her like that!
Quickly wiping the thought from his mind, Sora set himself to making some sort of dinner. Brushing his coppery bangs out of his eyes, he flung open the refridgerator and peered inside only to find several cans of soda, an eggplant, and a bowl of... something that was probably maccaroni and cheese... at one point. Sora made a face and closed the door with a loud bang. Now it looked as though he'd be spending his Friday night alone, neglected, and starving.
"Well. This is just skippy, now isn't it?" It wasn't long after that when Sora began repeatedly banging the back of his head against the wall.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Blinking, he paused and looked around.
Thudthudthudthud.
Hearing voices outside his front door, Sora frowned in puzzlement. The smart thing for a teenage boy to do in this situation would have been to proceed with caution, seeing as it was dark outside and he was home alone, absolutely defenseless. Sora must not have felt up to doing the smart thing, for he trudged over to the front door as the knocking continued (as well as the voices) and flung it open.
"What?" he barked before his eyes widened and he looked up to find himself staring at...
"Sora! Is that anyway to greet your three-girl cheer-up squad? Hmm? I don't think so!" Rikku? Paine and Yuna stood behind her, Paine shaking her head at the blond girl's antics. Yuna waved politely, smiling sweetly as Sora gaped at the three girls on his doorstep.
"...Err....?"
Smiling apologetically, Paine did her best to fill in the confused Sora. "I noticed that Riku never dropped by to pick you up... Rikku, Yuna, and I were just headed downtown and wanted to know if you wanted to come with." She gave him a small comforting smile before Rikku again took control of the conversation.
"It'll be fun, Sora, come on! We go dancing and clubbing and aaaall sorts of fun stuff! You'll have a great time, I proooomise!" Rikku said, looking at Sora with pleading green eyes. Sora's attention was dragged away as a car drove down the narrow street, picking up speed as it passed his house. Shaking his head, Sora pulled himself back into reality. For a second he could have sworn that had been Riku's car. But then again, he was in such a funk about the whole ordeal, even Rikku's green eyes were seeming more like Riku's own brilliant aquamarine...
The spiky haired boy sighed inwardly. It had been really thoughtful of them to stop by... especially since they were so willing and eager to have him tag along, but he really just didn't feel up to doing anything. What Sora really wanted was for Riku to call back, a great excuse in hand as to why he never showed up, and then they could rent a movie and watch it over at Riku's house... where there was plenty of food and Sora wouldn't be lonely.
"Who knows, we might be able to do a little detective work and hunt down the other Riku!" Paine's eyes widened as she elbowed Rikku in the side, though her warning scowl was already too late.
"What? You know where Riku is?"
"Of course! Well, I mean, not exactly. He's not at his house though, 'cause I drive by it on my way here aaaand his car wasn't there." Upon seeing Sora's crestfallen look, Rikku wished she'd kept her mouth shut about the whole issue. "But we can find him no problem! If we do enough snooping around, we can so totally get that cat back in the bag!... Or... umm.... Get the lephrechaun back his pot of gold! Ooh! Or--"
Paine struggled to keep from laughing. "You're done, Rikku."
"Aww, maaan, I was just getting warmed up."
Sora decided to cut in before any of the girls could really get their hopes up. "Thanks... I mean it, but... I um... I think I'll just wait for Riku to call back. He has to answer his messages sometime, right?" He looked hopefully up at the three girls outside the doorway, all of whom exhanged glances before nodding.
"Oh, yeah, no big, he'll call back real soon, I bet! He probably just got really hung up in traffic and maybe he's on his way here right now!" Rikku grinned and clasped her hands together in front of her, unaware of Paine's small sigh from behind her.
Riku, meanwhile, pulled off to the side of the road several blocks after he'd driven past Sora's house. He had felt guilty about having abandoned Sora just like that and had eventually forced himself to drive back to Sora's house and to try and come up with a way he could repair his mistake. But obviously, Sora wasn't having any bitter feelings about being forgotten, seeing as the good old color guard crew had gathered outside his doorway... Paine among them.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, Riku slammed one fist against the dashboard of his car, resting his forehead on the rim of the steering wheel. And to think it was all Riku's fault that Sora had drifted away from him in the first place! It was Riku who had gotten Sora to go to those practices, and it was Riku who was the one telling him to go out for the guard. He had originally hoped that Sora being on the guard would be like a missing puzzle piece for everything. Not only would it give Sora something to do (the boy often pouted about never having anything he was good at, though Riku didn't think he needed a talent to be anything special), but it would also give Riku an excuse to spend more time with the younger teen. The color guard accompanied the marching band on all of the trips, naturally, and Riku had always wanted to drag Sora along to the competition site on the mainland. He had thought that having Sora join color guard would fix all that and make everything perfect.
Obviously not.
Riku didn't even stop to think he might be overreacting. In his mind he'd always been right and he'd never really been given any reason not to believe it to be true. Sora was always the one agreeing with him, supporting him, but now that Sora wasn't there, surely it was Sora who made the mistake then. That had to be the only explanation.
Well, Riku would just have to let Sora learn from his mistake. The hard way.
~~~~~~~~
Sora's eyes half-opened as he heard his mother talking on the phone in a soft voice in the kitchen. He didn't remember falling asleep on the couch... nor did have a clue when on earth it could have possibly have happened. It seemed like just a minute ago he'd been lying on the couch, waiting for a phone call or a knock on the door from Riku...
Riku! What if he'd called and Sora had been asleep?!
Tearing into the kitchen, blue eyes wide and panicked, he opened his mouth to start babbling questions only to find Bryna still talking on the phone in a hushed voice. Looking up as her son entered the room, she gave him a small smile and a little wave, motioning over towards the countertop where several grocery bags were sitting. Sora silently went over and fished out an apple from the bag, rising it off in the sink before biting into it.
Twelve forty-five in the morning? Sora frowned at the clock over the small stove on the kitchen. Great, he'd overslept and any chance he'd had of spending time with Riku seemed to be fast fading away. Not wanting to go back to sleep, still feeling guilty about sleeping on the couch in the first place, he sat across from Bryna at the small kitchen table.
"Mmhm, I know. I know, I know. Listen, Sora's here, you wanna talk to him?" Bryna looked over at Sora apologetically, mouthing 'dad' wordlessly.
Sora frowned and stood up from the table. "I don't really feel like talking to him now, mom... I'm just gonna go get some fresh air."
With that, Sora walked quietly into the backyard, closing the door gently behind him. He felt like screaming and yelling and kicking something, anything to get his mind off of all this. He wanted to get in touch with Riku, to find out what had happened. He wanted his father to stop calling Bryna, because he would constantly ask if Sora wanted to go visit him on the mainland, which Sora had zero desire to do. More then anything, he just wanted to...
Sora pouted and crossed his arms, realizing he didn't know what he wanted more then anything. Hmm, he'd have to do some thinking on that one. Turning towards Paine's house, expecting the older girl to be there, he was disappointed to find her standard folding chair empty. Who was he supposed to go to for comfort and advice now when he really felt like shit? Hold a sec... Her chair wasn't empty. Lying on top of the seat was her notebook she'd had out earlier in the day and a scrap of paper.
Jogging over to the chair, Sora peered down at the paper.
Sora--
I figured you'd be out later. Sorry about the whole Riku thing.
I finished the song, if you want to read it.
Feel better.
-Paine
Smiling Sora picked up the notebook and cradled it as though he were afraid he'd somehow break it. Even though everything about Paine's song had reminded him of nothing but Riku, he still loved the words and hoped they'd help to bring him back to his senses at least somewhat. Flipping gently through the pages of other writing, not sure if Paine would want for him to read anything but the song itself, Sora eventually came upon the neat columned writing which now spanned the entire page. Sitting cross-legged on the ground (though Sora would never admit it, he figured it would just be wrong of him to occupy her special chair), Sora began to read.
The rope that's wrapped around me / Is cutting through my skin / And the doubts that have surrounded me / Are finding their way in / I keep it close to me / Like a holy man prays / In my desperate hour / It's better, better that way / So I'll come by and see you again / I'll be such a very good friend / Have mercy on my soul / I will never let you know / Where my mind has been / Angels never came down / There's no one here / They'd want to hang around / But if they knew, if they knew you at all / Then one by one, the angels would fall
I've crept into your temple / I have slept upon your pew / I have dreamed of a divinity / Inside and out of you / I want it more then truth / I can taste it on my breath
I would give my life just for a little / A little death / So I'll come by and see you again / I'll be just a very good friend / I would not look upon your face / I would not touch upon your grace / You're as pleasing as soft skin / Angels never came down / There's no one here / They'd want to hang around / But if they knew, if they knew you at all / Then one by one, the angels would fall
I'll come by and see you again / And I'll have to be a very good friend / If I whisper they will know / I'll just turn around and go / You will never know my sin / Angels never came down / There's no one here / They'd want to hang around / But if they knew, if they knew you at all / Then one by one, the angels would fall
There's no one here / They'd want to hang around / But if they knew, if they knew you at all / Then one by one the angels would fall
It was nothing less then Sora had expected, if anything, Paine's writing had been even more profound then he could've thought possible before. Sora wanted to just read and reread the song over and over again, forever. If he read it enough, maybe Riku would somehow understand... It was then that Sora noticed the smaller handwriting in pencil at the bottom of the page.
Tell Riku, Sora.
Thinking on this a moment, Sora blinked. Paine wasn't the type of person who would've follow her own advice to the very last word. ...Did that mean she'd already told Rikku about how she felt towards the girl?? Sora grinned and laughed out loud into the otherwise silent night. So Paine had told Rikku about it all... Sora was more then happy for his friend and almost all of his previously sour mood vanished in a snap. All he had to now was find some way of getting a hole of Riku over the weekend, tell the boy how he felt and see how things played out from there. He hadn't really seen that it was just that simple before. There was constantly the worry of rejection or disgust coming from Riku, but at that moment, Sora doubted that anything would turn bitter. It was just one of those "everything will be all right" feelings.
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Sora's plan wouldn't have had any problem and the poor boy was more then willing to tell Riku how he felt all weekend long. But Sora just couldn't get a hold of Riku! He must have annoyed the older boy's parents to death, calling every other hour only to find that Riku was still out, or that he had come home and had to go out again right afterwards. All in all, the two day weekend seemed to drag itself out to two weeks for Sora, who was next to ripping his spiky hair out in frustration by Sunday night. Well fine then. Sora would just have to drag Riku out of some classroom the next day and tell the older boy then.
While practicing for color guard with Paine during the weekend, Sora found out that yes, her and Rikku were now a couple. He was happy for them both and promised Paine that he'd been trying to get a hold of Riku all weekend to tell him about his own feelings, but he just couldn't get in contact with the older boy. Paine found the whole thing a little concerning, though she did her best to keep her feelings from her friend. She'd been disappointed in Riku when he'd backed out on the evening he and Sora had planned out, but she'd also thought that it was possible that Riku had some emergency or something he'd had to take care of and couldn't do it that night. But when Sora wasn't able to speak with Riku at all throughout the entire weekend, Paine just couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.
Sora walked to school the next day, accompanied by Kairi and Selphie as usual, but Riku was still nowhere to be found. After asking around if anyone had seen Riku all weekend, the two girls exchanged glances and shrugged. Continuing the walk to school, Sora also continued his search for Riku, constantly looking back over his shoulder, hoping to see the boy jogging to catch up to them from behind.
"You know, Sora, Riku may have just driven to school. He did on Friday--"
"He had to drop off a project on Friday, Kairi!"
"I know, I know!" Selphie jumped up and down waving her hand in the air. "Maybe he's just got another project due today!"
Sora sighed as the three turned onto the main road on the island, approaching the high school. It was possible that Riku did have another project or something due... Or he may just have felt like driving to school early in the morning to... Do nothing? Sora's thought process was running overtime and he didn't feel up to worrying about his older friend any more then he had already done that weekend. If Sora didn't see Riku that morning, he would see him at lunch. Riku had never missed lunch, not even to finish studying or doing homework for another class. He always showed up.
So throughout his first three classes of the day, Sora's mid was elsewhere, thinking of some remotely tactful way he could talk to Riku, having not seen his friend all weekend. His teachers didn't bother to ask why their student was zoning out every five seconds, not matter how much they reprimanded him and eventually they all gave up. Sora was in another world and was obviously not coming out until he felt like it.
Apparently, he felt like coming out of that world at lunch, bouncing back into the frenzied state he'd been in that morning, or as Kairi and Selphie had dubbed it, "Riku-Mode." The poor boy must have asked every other person they came across if they'd seen Riku that day, though most of them didn't know. Of course, most of them wouldn't know, since not all sophomores knew the silver haired boy as well as Sora and his close friends did.
It was when Yuffie walked over to the table that Sora began to feel something was wrong. Normally, Yuffie would have bounced over, hopped over, skipped over... the list went on and on, but walking was not on it. The older girl placed her hands on her hips a small, puzzled frown flitting across her usually cheery face.
"Okay, Sora, what's up Quistis and Riku?"
Sora's face drained of all color and he nearly choked on the milk he'd been drinking at that moment. Paine appeared seconds later, wincing as she saw that Yuffie had already beat her to Sora. No doubt the short haired girl didn't mean to stab Sora and twist the knife around, but she was sure to do it accidentally. Upon seeing Sora's expression as she drew up behind Yuffie, Paine made a mental note to clarify for the girl that when she said, "find Sora," she meant to find him. Not to tell him what Paine had intended on telling him herself.
"Ri-- Quis-- W...what?" Sora numbly set the milk carton back on the table, his body totally detatched from his screaming mind by that point.
Rikku jogged over towards Paine, having also been sent on a Sora-hunt. Sidling up next to her girlfriend, Rikku bit her bottom lip upon seeing Sora's pained expression.
"Sora, listen..."
"Where is he?" Sora asked quietly. His friends around him were more then a little puzzled by the whole idea, Selphie and Kairi seemed torn between disappointment in Riku for going out with the bitter captain of the guard, and confusion as to why Sora cared that much in the first place.
"He's over with the seniors, Sora." Paine looked towards Rikku, trying to figure out if she should prevent Sora from seeing Riku or if she should just let it happen.
Getting up from the table, Sora looked around, eventually finding the silver haired junior sitting in the midst of a throng of seniors, sure enough, a small blond girl sitting next to him, though it seemed as though more of her was draped across Riku than in the actual chair. All Sora could think of what how much Riku had betrayed him. He was willing to forgive the older boy for bailing out on him that past Friday, but to go out with Quistis without even talking to Sora first?
"Hey, Sora!" Riku grinned at the younger boy as Sora drew closer to the table. No one seemed to notice that the grin failed to reach his eyes, though. Upon seeing Sora's simply devastated look try and repair itself to look at least somewhat supportive, Riku felt his own heart shatter. When he'd first overheard the last part of Sora's conversation with Paine that previous Friday, he hadn't had any intention at all of hooking up with Quistis. It was after he'd driven past Sora's house later in the afternoon and had pulled over to the side of the road in a burst of frustration that he'd randomly decided to go through with it. All just to get back at Sora for something as innocent as making new friends.
"Hi, Riku.... Quistis. Um..." Sora didn't really know what he'd come over there for. He wanted to start yelling at Riku, asking him how he could just go and do something like that when Sora had been trying to tell him he loved him all weekend! Sora suddenly felt like ripping Quistis off of Riku's side and telling the older girl everything he thought of her. Running through a list of choice words in the back of his mind didn't seem to soothe Sora all that much. "I didn't know you guys were a couple. I'm happy for you." Anyone who knew Sora knew that those words came out forced and not in the slightest bit sincere. Riku knew Sora and saw through the younger boy's flimsy mask with ease, again hit by another wave of guilt. He hadn't meant to demolish his best friend's spirit... All he'd wanted to do was get a little revenge.
Quistis narrowed her eyes at the spiky haired boy in front of them, wrapping her arms tighter around Riku's shoulders. Stupid little kid. He'd had Riku his entire life, it was time enough he shared!
Sora noticed the girl's glare and his eyes flicked back to Riku's face. The older boy seemed to put his own mask over his emotions, but Riku wasn't as easy to read as Sora was and the younger boy. A few days ago, Sora would have just flat out have told Riku exactly what he felt towards Quistis, but at that moment, Sora even felt betrayed by Riku. His gaze having fallen towards the surface of the table, Sora looked up again, intending to say goodbye to Riku and probably wander off somewhere to sulk. But as Quistis drew herself even closer to Riku, the Riku that should be his, giving a small smirk of triumph at him, Sora just couldn't hold back anymore.
Grabbing the thing nearest to him, which just happened to be another senior's open milk carton, he hurled it towards Quistis, who nearly went bug-eyed in surprise. With a sickening splatter, milk drenched both Quistis and Riku as Sora found himself screaming in his mind not to start crying.
Don't cry, don't cry!
"How could you do that to me, Riku?!"
Riku jolted out of his chair, milk trailing down his clothes, ignoring Quistis' angered squeals, the older girl dripping even more then Riku himself. "What the hell are you talking about Sora??" But Riku had a feeling he knew exactly what Sora was talking about and felt even worse for asking the boy.
"Going out with Quistis? She only wants you because you're hot! God, Riku, how dense are you?! She's only with you because--"
"Sora, shut up!!" Riku clenched his fists, looking about ready to jump right over the table and pummel his friend into the ground.
"Why? I've been quiet forever, dammit! I'm sick of being quiet! I--"
"Sora!" Paine's hand held back Sora's fist, which he was unaware he'd even formed in the first place. With a jolt, Sora realized he'd been about ready to just hit Riku. Riku! Of all people, why would he ever, ever hurt him? He hurt me first.
Wrenching his arm out of Paine's grip, Sora did the only thing he could think of.
He ran.
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*sniff* Yes, I feel awful. But don't worry! This is a Riku/Sora fic, not a Sora-deals-with-a-one-sided-relationship fic. *nods firmly* I had a lot more I wanted to get to, but I figured they'd fit in better forming a new chapter, which I'll probably have posted tomorrow. Hope no one has issues with the Paine/Rikku appearance. It's entirely necessary though. I mean, how else would Paine and Sora be friends at all if they didn't have that in common?
Again, I should probably point out that Paine's song lyrics aren't mine, their Melissa Etheridge's. I mentioned it in the last chapter, but I don't want to get in trouble for not mentioning it again, so I just did.
On a more personal note, I'm really, really delighted that I've made it on people's favorites lists! I've been telling myself just to devote one day to reading/reviewing other peoples fics, so hopefully that day isn't too far off! Thanks to everyone who keeps reading! *beams*
~Ori