Sorry about the wait! I hope you like this chappie, I had a blast writing it!

Oh, and thanks for all the reviews for the previous chapter! It means a lot to me!

Chapter 3

Deep breath……

Inhale.

Exhale.

Breathe Sora…breathe…..

The party was only fifteen minutes away but guests started arriving a half an hour ago. Their voices traveled up the stairs and into the bedroom where Sora was fumbling with the clasp of his costume. His fingers moved clumsily and he was having a hard time concentrating. It also didn't help that he was really, really nervous.

Parties were never a big priority in his life. In the past he had been invited to a few, but the last one he attended was three years ago. All he could remember was sitting in the corner of the room, drinking punch and watching his friends with their partners, dancing innocently with one another. It was boring as hell and he left the party feeling like a loser. Kairi hadn't even asked him to dance.

Now that he was older, he knew this party was going to be different. Very different. His supiscions were proved true when Kairi burst through the door of the bedroom in the most revealing outfit yet.

"Close your mouth before you swallow some flies," she said smiling at him. She was standing in the doorway, one hand on her hip, amusement clearly written across her face.

Sora gawked. "But I'm not supposed to know your costume!"

"So what." She sauntered over to him and twirled on the spot. "You like?"

It's certainly not what I expected, he thought as he took in the black leather outfit. It looked similar to the costume he saw Halle Berry wearing in Catwoman with the leather straps and bra wrapped around her torso and the tight black leather pants. Not to mention the black cat-like mask she wore on her face.

"It's, uh, nice?" he managed.

Kairi beamed.

"Thanks! Now, let me look at you." She walked in a slow circle around him, a lot like Namine had done several days ago. She studied the black cape he was wearing, and rubbed her fingers back and forth over the smooth material of his tux.

"You look quite dashing in it Sora, but," she paused and tugged a brown spike. "I could recognize you from a mile away."

"Could you recognize me if I wore this?" He whipped out a white mask that covered the top half of his face, leaving only his mouth exposed.

She laughed. "Oh! Now I get it! You're kind of like the guy from Phantom of the Opera!"

He shrugged. "I guess so."

The outfit was simple and quite comfortable. And like Kairi said it did make him look dashing and mysterious.

"Well, you do look like someone else even with that hair. But if I tried to tame it with my best hair-spray products, it wouldn't work." She grinned and gave him a small hug. "Find me downstairs, ok?"

"All right."

He watched her leave the room with her cat tail swinging beside her.

Sora turned back to the mirror and gave himself a last look over. His nerves lessened a little, now that he knew what kairi's costume was. It would be pretty easy to find her with what she was wearing.

He adjusted his mask one last time and shot his reflection a wink. He was ready.

The downstairs of the house was alive with laughter and music in every room. The decorations did wonders for the atmosphere, with the bright colored streamers and the soft fluorescent lights dotting the walls. People were lounging on the huge sofa, chatting quietly in corners, and, already couples could be seen making out. The party only started five minutes ago.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, Sora looked around for Kairi. He was not surprised that she was nowhere in sight. The people nearest him stared at him, and one girl even looked like she was going to devour him on the spot. Feeling awkward all of a sudden, he made his way to the backyard in hopes of finding someone he knew. He had no clue what the rest of his friends were dressed up as and it only heightened the nervous twinge in his chest.

There were even more people out back. The noise blasting out of the sound system made his head spin and he could feel a small headache coming on.

He needed punch.

Sora was jostled a couple of times as he pushed his way through the crowd. His even tripped over someone's costume and he received a very annoyed look. It wasn't like it was his fault even! The girl was dragging a butt load of sparkly fabric behind her!

Finally, he managed to make it to the punch table and serve himself a cup. He then sat down at one of the round tables and observed the scene before him. He thought he saw a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye but it only turned out to be some guys sword that he was brandishing wildly about.

However, what did catch his attention was a figure on the dance floor. He couldn't really make out the face or whom they were dancing with because their back was to him, but all he knew was that the person danced like nothing he'd ever seen. Their movements were confident and fluid, almost graceful, and they went right along with the beat of the music. Sora could not tear his eyes away and he found himself needing to confront the figure swathed in all white. He was just getting out of his seat when a hand gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Is this seat taken?"

Sora swiveled around his chair and was momentarily speechless. He couldn't help but stare at the man before him. He was gorgeous, that is, if you could call a guy that. Swallowing his nerves he looked up into the clear, blue eyes and shook his head.

The blonde smiled and sat down at the small table. He gave a sigh like he was exhausted and Sora wondered what was wrong.

"Er..would you like me to get you some punch?"

The blonde laughed. "No, it's all right." He raised a glass he had in his hand. "Thanks anyway." He ran a hand through his hair and looked out across the dance floor. Sora noted that the guy wasn't wearing a costume and instead dressed in well fitting, dark wash blue jeans and a simple, black t-shirt. He suddenly felt stupid with the mask over his face.

"Um..so, are you here for the party?"

With a far away look in his eyes the man answered, almost sadly.

"Yes, we are."

"We?"

The blonde looked at Sora like he finally realized Sora was there. "Oh, my boyfriend and I."

"Boyfriend?" Sora said incredulously.

He chuckled nervously and stuck out a hand. "I'm sorry, I never got your name. I'm Cloud by the way."

"Sora," the brunette said in return. "And, sorry about that, I just never really met..er.."

Cloud smiled and fiddled with the umbrella on his drink. "Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal, now that…" He faded off, staring out at the dance floor.

Sora didn't want to pry but, his curiosity got the better of him. "Now that..what?"

A sad smile crossed Cloud's face. "Now that we broke up."

Sora was lost for words. He never knew what it was like to break up in a relationship.

"I'm sorry," he managed.

Cloud shrugged. "It was going to happen sooner or later. We weren't getting along very well the past few weeks and to be honest, the shit hit the fan right before we came here. But we decided to come anyway."

Sora took a sip from his drink. "Oh."

"But anyway," the blonde re-crossed his legs and forced a cheery smile. "So, you friends with the host?"

"Yup."

"Her name's Selphie, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Do you know her well?"

"Not really. My boy - …I mean, I was invited by one of her friends, Kairi."

Sora's eyes lit up. "I know Kairi, we're good friends."

"And I think she dragged along Riku too."

At the mention of Riku's name, Sora's stomach flipped. He had been wondering about that boy for a while now. Where was Riku anyway?

"You know Riku?"

Cloud took another sip of his punch. "Of course. Doesn't everybody?"

"Er…"

The blonde waved a flippant hand. "You'll get to know him, trust me. It's hard not to."

Sora rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "I actually met him earlier and he seemed rather quiet." He could still see silver hair dancing around aqua marine eyes, laughing at him and he felt heat spread through him. He unconsciously adjusted the way he was sitting.

"Yes, he is rather quiet isn't he?" Cloud said oblivious to Sora's discomfort. "He's so humble about it."

The brunette gulped down more punch. "What do you mean?"

"Oh you don't know?" Cloud tossed his head, his bangs falling to the side. "He's a model. And a very good one at that."

Sora was trying to digest that information as Cloud continued. "I don't know how he gets all those contracts to Calvin Klein and Gucci. It pisses me off that I'm stuck with Banana Republic."

Sora looked up. "You're a model too? Wow. I'm not surprised."

Cloud gave him a brilliant smile. "I can take that as a compliment." He shot Sora's mask a disapproving look. "Why don't you take that off?"

"What? Oh, this." Sora's hands flew up to the mask. "Sorry, I can't."

The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you know, the party rules…" Sora smiled sheepishly.

Cloud laughed. "I guess your right. But, I won't know you properly until I see your face. So make sure to catch up with me after the party."

Sora grinned. "All right."

"Good." Cloud stood up and tossed his cup in a near by trash bin. "I'm gonna get some food, wanna come?"

"No, thanks. I think I'm going to find Kairi."

"We'll good luck with that. It's packed here." He shot Sora a wink before turning to go.

It was the third time he blushed today and Sora was getting annoyed with himself. Why was he getting flustered all the time? It's not like he was attracted to Cloud or Riku……..

Was he?

Sora downed the remains of his drink and left the empty plastic cup on the table. He seriously needed to clear his thoughts, the headache that started earlier was buzzing at the back of his mind again, thanks to the loud music blaring from the dance floor speakers. He got up from where he was sitting and headed towards the other end of the yard, away from all music and action.

Night finally settled in and the sun could no longer be seen through the treetops. The party lights illuminated the area, accompanied by the twinkling stars over head. A soft breeze ruffled through the area, cooling Sora off, he didn't realize how hot he had been until now.

It was quiet enough that Sora could hear the grass and twigs crunch under his feet as he walked. The yard was frickin' huge and he was far enough away from the party under the shadow of the trees that nobody would see him. He felt oddly calm and decided to leave the yard completely and walk into the woods. It was much darker under the canopy of the trees, the stars could not be seen and he could barely see where he was going. He laughed at himself for choosing to leave the party and instead walk around the woods like a blind man. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a twig snap behind him.

Sora froze. He whipped around to peer into the darkness. Was somebody following him? It seemed unlikely because nobody saw him leave the grounds. He strained to hear any movement.

Silence met his ears and he shrugged the thought off. He kept on walking knowing his mind was just playing tricks on him.

After a few minutes a second sound, like breaking branches made him stop in his tracks again. Ok, now this was getting freaky. Sora pivoted on the spot and took off his mask to see more clearly. Unfortunately it didn't do much help because he was far enough in the woods that it was nearly pitch black and there were no lights from the party to guide him.

He cursed himself silently for being so foolish as to go this far and started walking back in the direction he thought he came from. It wasn't until five minutes later when he heard another sound behind him, much closer this time. Instead of stopping, he picked up his pace and tore blindly through the brush, his costume snagging on the many branches around his legs.

Now he definitely knew somebody was following him, the sound of their footsteps on the forest floor could clearly be heard behind him. He found himself running, his heart beating a million times faster and he breathed a big sigh of relief (if he could that is while running) when he saw the lights of the parties through the trees. He slowed down and came to a stop, reassured that civilization was near by. The person who had followed him at first scared the shit out of him, but now he was just plain annoyed that someone would pull this kind of trick on him.

Sora turned on his heel, ready to face whoever it was. The blood pounded in his ears in anticipation and he stood his ground as the footsteps came closer and closer. Before he knew it, the person barreled into him and Sora was sprawled on the ground with a heavy weight on top of him.

Blinking through the slight daze he was in, Sora opened his eyes to come face to face with a white mask, much like his own. He gasped in surprise and pushed them off prepared to get up and run away from his attacker. His actions were stopped however by a pull to his cloak. Startled, he looked down and sure enough the person was clinging to his costume as if it were their lifeline.

"Get off of me," Sora ground out, trying to yank it out of their grasp.

The person did not relent and Sora sighed, exasperated. "Look, if you came to tell me something, just tell me so I can go."

The figure in white did not answer him and instead stood up to come nose to nose with the brunette. Sora's mind whirled when he realized that this was the person who he saw dancing so sensually before on the dance floor. He gulped once or twice when a hand came up to cradle the side of his cheek.

"Um…what are you doing?" Sora stammered. He had no idea who this person was, and that just freaked him out more.

The fingers on his cheek stroked his face tenderly, and before he knew what was happening a pair of lips descended on his own. Sora gasped and struggled to get away but another hand held him firmly in place by gripping his waist tightly. He was panicking and he knew it, his mind was screaming to get away but these were the softest lips he had ever felt. They caressed his gently, and every now and then tenderly kissing the corners of his mouth.

Sora ceased his struggling and figured he might as well give in. This mouth was just too irresistible. Having not responded to the kiss before, he now did and parted his mouth a little more to allow better access. A tongue swiped his bottom lip and he shivered from the contact. It was a sensation he had never experienced before and he found he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Throwing caution to the wind, Sora brought his hands up to rest on the other person's shoulders. He let them relax there and he felt the hand on his waist tighten. He felt himself blush hearing the wet noises their kiss was making and heat spread through him, starting from his toes and traveling up. Not feeling so shy anymore, he hesitantly brushed his tonuge against the other bottom lip and was delighted when the other person sighed with pleasure and devoured his mouth even more.

The hand that had been at his face was now joined with the other and Sora felt himself tugged even closer to the other body until he was flushed up against them. Instinctly he tightened his hold on the other person's neck and moaned when they started tracing small circles in the small of his back.

Sora had never felt this good in his whole life. Every nerve of his being was on fire, and his mind screamed for more and more. He let him sink into complete bliss, forgetting everything from his disheveled state, to the woods around him, and even the party that was going on just ahead. But then, just as quickly as the lips appeared they vanished, and Sora was left stunned for several seconds. The body before him had slipped smoothly and cleanly from his grip and Sora opened his eyes, meeting nothing but darkness.

review? please? thanks! I knew you would!

The next chapter should be out in two weeks at the latest. And I promise that it won't be longer than that!