Title: Love On A Rotten Day
Author: Slashapalooza
Disclaimer: This chapter was very fun to write. You know why? Because Sora is the cutest thing in the world. Too bad he belongs to Riku and not me.
Special Thanks: All of you, thank Kari for Sora and Riku's outfit, mmkay? I'm a failure when it comes to clothes. Also, I stole the club description from a message board so thanks to them, too! Also, of course, once again, Starberrie's beta-ing skills!
Warnings: Have you ever seen a 15 year old boy have pre-date jitters?
Date Begun: January 1, 2005
Date Posted: January 3, 2005
Date Edited: December 29, 2007
Chapter 7: In Which There's A Date
To say Sora was frantic was an unbelievable understatement. He wasn't frantic; he was having a crisis. Riku would arrive to pick him up for their first date in thirty minutes and he had nothing to wear.
And, yes, Sora felt like a gigantic girl having this kind of problem, but he couldn't stop himself. He wanted to look good. Not so good Riku would want to skip the date and get right to the kissing, but good enough to make Riku lose his composure a little. Was that so wrong?
"Mom!" he cried after emptying his closet. There were piles upon piles of clothes lying on his messy floor, but none of them seemed good enough. He eyed them all in frustration until his mother appeared in the doorway. "Help me! I don't have anything to wear!"
"Careful, Sora, your crush is showing," said Seiya in amusement.
Sora blushed. "That's… that's not it at all! It's not Riku. It's just my first date and I want it to go okay. Really!" He didn't even believe himself when he said that, but that wasn't important. He hurried over to the dresser, holding up two bottles of cologne for her inspection. "Obsession or Cool Water Deep?"
He sprayed each on a wrist and sniffed them experimentally. He was particularly fond of Obsession, because it was kind of appropriate, but, hey, maybe Riku was more of a Cool Water Deep fan. He had no idea. They didn't really talk about that kind of stuff. Or at all.
When his mother made no attempt to help him decide, he looked up to see that her face was turning red with the effort of trying not to laugh.
"It's not funny!" Sora cried, going through the piles of clothes again.
He was having a crisis and his mother was laughing at him. Great. Just great. Nevermind that Riku had 'taken him to the nurse' every day all week and that now Leon smirked at him every time he entered the Biology classroom, hickey or no hickey. Nevermind that he was seeing less and less of Kairi the more time she spent with her new friends. And nevermind that Riku still didn't sit with him at lunch—if they ever even made it to lunch. No matter how much he complained, his mother just laughed at him in his times of need. What a mother!
"Sora, honey, relax," Seiya commented with a little giggle. "You look like you're going to burst a blood vessel." Sora turned to tell her to leave him alone, only to be blinded by a flash that left him momentarily disoriented. "You forgot to say cheese."
"Mom, I'm in the middle of a crisis and you're taking pictures?" Sora made a futile attempt to rub the spots from his eyes. "Put the camera away and help me!"
If by 'help' he'd meant 'laugh', then she did exactly as he said. Sora growled under his breath, going through his clothes for the umpteenth time. The white shirt with the smiley face was too childish. The sleeveless black zip-up shirt was too Matrix. The sky blue t-shirt was too average. He held up his pink teapot shirt, considering.
"You really want to be seen outside in a pink shirt?" asked Seiya. Sora flushed and threw the shirt back in the pile.
He slumped down on the floor. "Well, that's it then. I'm just going to have to go naked."
"As much as I would enjoy that, I think you'd get arrested for indecent exposure."
Sora screamed and whipped around so fast he nearly got whip-lash. It wasn't Riku, thank god, but Kairi, giggling at him from the doorway. She and Seiya exchanged a high-five, oblivious to Sora glowering at them from the floor. How was he supposed to be happy to see Kairi when she was only making the whole situation worse?
"That was so not funny."
"Sorry, Sora," Kairi said once she'd stopped taking twisted pleasure in his pain. "I just didn't take you for the type to get so worked up over a date with a guy you claim not to like."
"I don't like him," Sora lied heatedly. "Our mothers locked us in the attic. Unless I wanted to spend the rest of my life up there with him and the spiders, I had to say yes!"
"Right, sure. Luckily for you, I'm here to help. Now let me see what you've got in that dingy old closet of yours…" Kairi trailed off as she saw that every piece of clothing Sora owned was on the floor. She sighed at his innocent smile. "I've got a lot of work to do."
Five blocks down, in the Masaki household, a problem of an entirely different kind was going on. Riku watched his mother pace back and forth, idly chewing a Tic-Tac. She was going on about places he should take Sora for their date, but Riku had stopped listening to her hours ago. He was willing to bet that Sora would look absolutely delectable all dressed up and blushing in that adorable way he always did. Almost as delectable as he would look naked.
But there was time for all that later. Riku popped another Tic-Tac in his mouth and focused on Sora in clothes. A hand slammed down on the table, startling him out of his thoughts and wedging the Tic-Tac in the back of his throat. He immediately choked.
"Are you listening?" Ayumi asked, making absolutely no attempt to keep him from asphyxiating. "Do you want to night to be great or not?"
Riku coughed the Tic-Tac up in his hand, then gingerly scraped it into a napkin. Gross. "It's my date, not yours, Mom," he reminded her with a mild glare. He could have died. "I have tonight all planned out."
"Will I have to leave for the night? Seiya and I were thinking of starting a bridge group."
"Only if, by some miracle, Sora decides to jump me."
The impossibility of that scenario made Riku just the slightest bit disappointed. He knew he was hot, but Sora didn't seem to be very aware of that fact. Sora would whine and complain and then melt in his arms and then smack his "perverted hands" away if they got anywhere near the zipper on his pants. How Sora purposed they had sex with their pants on was beyond him. He knew it could be done, yes, but the nudity was half the fun.
Ayumi took the empty case of Tic-Tacs from him and smiled. "Don't give up hope just yet. You'd better head out, anyway. It's almost time."
Riku headed for the front door, pausing by the hall mirror to survey his outfit. He was wearing a light yellow shirt just short enough to show off a peek of his abs and long, low-slung shorts with boots. Ayumi pushed him away from the mirror before he could get too enamored with his own reflection.
"You're going to have a great time," she said wryly. "Sora will come around. Don't worry."
"Do I ever?"
He tossed his hair arrogantly, grabbed his car keys, and walked out the door, trying hard to control his nerves during the five-block drive to Sora's house. It didn't work. There was a worrying fluttery feeling in his stomach, something he'd never felt in this kind of situation. His first time going off a high-dive, sure. When that bully in Kindergarten had threatened to dump red paint in his hair, perhaps. But going on a date? Riku had never been nervous about his dates before. He made people nervous, not the other way around.
He shook his head to clear it and rang the doorbell, hearing shuffling and giggles from inside. Wary of the last time, he took a step back as the door opened a crack to reveal a very blue eye staring out at him. His apprehension faded into fondness. He didn't even need to see Sora properly to tell Sora was blushing.
"U-Uh, hey, Riku…" Sora murmured as he pulled the door open all the way. Sora was wearing a sleeveless, form-fitting black shirt with fishnet arm coverings and two chain belts holding up tight dark jeans that clung to his hips in an absolutely alluring way. Around his neck was a buckled collar.
Riku was distantly aware that he was staring, but it was like he was having an out of body experience. He couldn't seem to stop himself from trailing his eyes over Sora's form over and over again.
The longer he stared, the more self-conscious Sora got. His blush deepened. "I-It was Kairi's idea. She thought maybe you'd like it but if—if it's too much I could go ch-change and—"
"Don't you dare," Riku managed, though his voice was breathless. "You look amazing."
The shy way Sora bit his lip and the flicker of happiness that lit up his eyes made the whole night worth it for Riku, no matter what happened. Sora cleared his throat, remembering that Kairi and his mother were probably hovering somewhere behind him. "Can we go now? I want to get this over with."
Riku smirked and gestured toward his car. Sora trudged past him, head down to mask the blush he couldn't seem to get rid of. Riku was about to follow when he spotted Kairi leaning against the wall and stepped forward to hug her.
"I am forever in your debt," he said dramatically. "If there's anything I can ever do to you, don't hesitate to ask, and I apologize in advance if I rip those pretty clothes in my haste to remove them."
Kairi laughed. "I'll hold you to it. Now get off me before Sora gets jealous."
Riku did as he was told, meeting Seiya's eyes and posing as she snapped a Polaroid of him. She gave him a thumbs-up. "Get out of here, you crazy kids in love!"
He closed the door behind him and joined Sora in the car. As soon as he closed the door his nose was assaulted with the scent of an unfamiliar cologne. It took him a moment to realize that the smell was coming from Sora and another second with his hands clenched around the steering wheel before he was able to start the car without pinning Sora to the seat and seeing how long it took him to remove that collar with his teeth.
Sora, apparently oblivious to his efforts, leaned closer to turn on the radio and Riku bit back a groan.
It was going to be a long night.
Beep, beep, beep.
Kairi sighed, glancing down at the beeper attached to her hip. It had been a gift from Yuffie so that she and her friends could have access to Kairi 24/7. Kairi had been seconds away from pawning it for the cash, but she knew that if she didn't answer, there'd probably be hell to pay.
"Can I use your phone before I go?" she asked, thankful that Seiya just nodded and didn't bother to ask where she'd gotten the beeper from. Sora had gotten his curiosity from his father. She took the wireless up to Sora's room and sat on the bed, dialing the number flashing on her beeper.
"Finally," said Selphie unhappily. "Where are you? I'm at your parlor and I'm too broke to afford my strawberry shake!"
"Friday's my day off," Kairi muttered. "Sorry."
Selphie huffed for a moment or two while Kairi considered hanging up the phone. Out of all of them, Selphie was the one she was least afraid of. She was violent, sure, and had a mouth like a sailor at times, but she wasn't much for blackmail. Then again, if she hung up on Selphie, then Selphie would tell Tidus, and Tidus kind of struck fear into Kairi's heart.
She made an effort to sound kind when she spoke again, "So, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Have you got enough money for a shake?"
"Not on me."
"Where are you?"
"At Sora's house."
Even though she didn't offer up any more explanation than that, Selphie still squealed delightedly. "He and Riku went out on a date? Tidus is going to love this."
"How do you—"
"More importantly, are you busy tomorrow? Tidus let me borrow his wallet without his knowledge and I want to buy a new dress."
Kairi rolled her eyes skyward. Going shopping with Selphie was only slightly more fun than getting a root canal. Sure, she was a girl, but watching Selphie try on the whole damn store before deciding to buy nothing annoyed even her. "Can't. I have to go shopping for snacks."
"Snacks?" Selphie perked up instantly. "You're having a party?"
"Well, yeah… my sixteenth birthday's in three days and I'm having a party next Friday…"
"That's great! I'll be there. We all will."
Kairi felt her stomach drop. "Wh-What?"
"You can't just have a party and not invite your friends. That's just rude."
"But—"
"We'll be there around eight or nine. Nice talking to you, Kairi!"
Selphie had hung up before she could respond. Kairi stared blankly at the phone for a very long time before she finally turned it off, tears building behind her eyes. She'd been hoping to have a nice quiet night with her and Sora sitting on the couch and watching all her favorite Disney movies. She'd even been planning to invite Riku so they could spend the whole night teasing Sora, even if that meant she might return from getting more popcorn to find them making out on her couch.
She hadn't been hoping for this.
Kairi tossed the phone on the bed and tried to think of a way out of having Yuffie, Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, Leon, and Cloud in her house. Nothing was coming to mind. She couldn't uninvite them. She hadn't been the one to invite them in the first place! How was she going to explain this to Sora, anyway? And now she'd have to buy party bags and stuff.
Her shoulders slumped. Her birthday was going to suck.
Sora wasn't really the type to leave his house at night, let alone to go somewhere like Club Aurora. There was a long line of people that began at the door and wound around the block, all waiting to get in. Pulsing music could faintly be heard through the slightly open door, in front of which stood an irritated-looking bouncer that Sora was not excited about approaching.
He glanced back at Riku apprehensively. "Your big date idea was to take me to a club? Am I even legal?"
"What kind of date would I be if I tried to sneak you into a 21 and older club? Club Aurora's all-ages," Riku got out of the car and poked his head back inside. "Come on. You'll have fun. I promised, didn't I?"
Sora was skeptical about that, but he got out of the car nevertheless. He still couldn't believe he was really out on a date with Riku. He blushed as he remembered the way Riku had stared at him when he'd opened the door, the heated look in Riku's eyes before he'd turned on the engine, the way Riku's hands had been clenched around the steering wheel as he drove. Obsession really had been the appropriate choice and he was sure Riku agreed.
He hurried to keep up with Riku, who was already walking to the front of the line. Various expletives were shouted at them by the people waiting and Sora huddled closer to Riku for safety. Riku took his hand and smiled at the bouncer.
"Hey, Makoto, can you let me and my friend here in?" Riku asked, lowering his voice. "We're on a date."
The bouncer laughed and let them inside, much to Sora's surprise. He hadn't been aware that 'Makoto' could laugh.
The inside of the club was amazing. A huge dance floor was ringed by small, intimate tables with glowing numbers on each other. Light colored smoke that smelled like lilac seemed to hang perpetually in the air. Sora looked to his left to see a golden, spiral staircase leading up to a second floor that seemed to hold nothing but more tables.
He took everything in, awed, until he felt a warm puff of air by his ear and Riku whispered, "Dance with me."
Sora let Riku tug him into the crowd of people swaying and grinding on the dance floor, the neon lights flashing in time with the music. Riku wrapped his arms around Sora's waist and pulled him closer. Blushing, Sora hesitantly reached up and wrapped his arms around Riku's neck.
"This isn't so bad, is it?" Riku asked, pressing their foreheads together. Sora nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He was vaguely aware that the song playing was fast-paced, not one that would require closeness and swaying, but Sora couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be than there in the circle of Riku's arms. He felt Riku's chest rumble and realized the older boy was chuckled. "That was beautiful, Sora."
Sora realized he'd said that out loud and blushed all over again.
Riku swayed them through the song and through the slow one than followed, lulling Sora into warm contentment. Unfortunately, the longer they danced, the thirstier Sora got until his throat was just too parched for him to remain content. He waited until the slow song was over to lean up and shout, "I'm going to get some water!"
Riku nodded and pointed to a table in the corner, then slipped through the crowd to wait there. Sora watched him go for a moment, then headed for the bar. He took a seat on a stool next to some semi-conscious drunkards and waited for the bartender to come over.
"I'd like some water please," he asked politely.
The bartender raised an eyebrow. "How old are you, kid?"
"…fifteen?"
"Can I see some ID?"
"I don't have ID. I'm fifteen!" Which technically wasn't true as he did have a student ID, but that was in his backpack at home. "Look, my name's Sora Harada, I'm a sophomore at school here, and I'd really like some water."
The bartender's other eyebrow lifted to join the first and Sora stared at him peevishly until he turned and filled the glass. While he prepared the water—although, honestly, how much preparation could water take—Sora glanced back at the crowd and located a familiar head of silver hair. Riku was sitting at the table with the glowing red ten, shrugging off a girl that was trailing her finger up his arm. Sora felt a brief stab of jealousy though he wasn't surprised. What did he expect coming to a nightclub with an unnaturally hot guy? He didn't blame the girl so much as he kind of wanted her dead.
The bartender slammed the glass down on the counter. "Here's your water, Sora."
Sora gulped it down, slamming the empty glass back on the counter. "Thank you, bar guy," he said, wiping his mouth and hopping off the stool. He pushed through the crowds to get to the table where Riku, who seemed to have ridded himself of his latest admire, smiled at him as he slid into his seat.
Sora wobbled for a moment, oddly dizzy, then smiled back. "Hey."
"Hey," Riku replied. "Get your water?"
"Mhmm. More dancing!"
He got to his feet, knocking over his chair in the process, and dragged Riku back onto the dance floor by his wrist. Before he could turn around, Riku had pulled him so that Sora's back was against his front and Riku's hands were covering the bare skin between his belts and shirt. Riku rested his head on Sora's shoulder, making Sora shiver every time he exhaled.
Sora's eyes fluttered shut as their bodies began moving to the beat, his head swimming pleasantly and his body overwhelmed with sensations. Every thrum of music, every brush of Riku's breath against his skin, even the feel of Riku behind him seemed to shake him to the core.
Riku abruptly turned him and Sora stumbled into him, causing their hips to brush and pleasure to shoot through Sora's body. Riku was breathless when he spoke, "Dance with me, Sora."
Sora was aware that he was breathing heavily and hanging on to Riku like a lifeline, but his head was spinning too fast for him to make sense of anything. The last thing he remembered was Riku murmuring his name in concern before his vision clouded and he fell to the floor.
"It's Selphie," said Leon with minimal enthusiasm as he stared at the face of his cell phone. Incoming call… SELPHIE flashed across the screen and, really, he didn't feel like dealing with Selphie at the moment.
He and Cloud were sitting on the couch watching a tape of Aerith's middle school violin concert and throwing popcorn at the screen, which he considered to be a little more important than her babbling. Leon's parents, who really hated it when they made such messes, were out of town again so there'd be no one to yell at them to vacuum. At least, not unless Aerith was feeling particularly nitpicky when she got home.
"If you don't answer, she's just going to call again," Cloud said, bouncing a kernel off TV Aerith's head. "And again and again. Damn, your sister looked odd with braces."
Leon sighed, seeing the truth in Cloud's words, and flipped the phone open, pressing it to his ear. "Yeah."
"Guess what you're doing next Friday?" Selphie chirped. Leon could already feel a headache coming on.
"I'm not taking you shopping."
"No, silly. I wouldn't go shopping with you. You always ditch me when I'm in the dressing room. Kairi's birthday party is next Friday and she's graciously invited us all!"
Leon doubted it had happened quite like that, but he was intrigued all the same. He wasn't much for parties, something his parents found bizarre considering they owned fifteen nightclubs worldwide, but he was very fond of schadenfreude. Kairi probably wasn't pleased that Selphie had invited them all to her birthday party and what kind of person would he be if he didn't stop by to enjoy that?
Cloud paused the tape and glanced over him, raising an eyebrow. "We're not taking her shopping. Be strong in the face of adversity, Leonhart."
Leon had to stomp down really hard on the urge to laugh. Selphie was still on the phone and she might take his laughter as a sign of the Apocalypse rather than as a sign that Cloud was an idiot.
He covered the phone with a hand. "She's inviting us to Kairi's birthday party. You interested?"
Cloud pressed play, though his eyes were distant with thought. Leon had no doubt Selphie would easily convince Yuffie and Wakka to come. Tidus wouldn't be given much choice in the matter since he usually got dragged along with whatever Selphie decided to do. Did he really feel like killing a Friday with the four of them, plus Sora, Riku, and Kairi, even if Cloud was there with him?
The front door opened and Aerith entered, her cheeks flushed as she put away her coat. She spotted the two of them on the couch and opened her mouth to greet them until she caught sight of what they were watching.
"Guys," she said warningly. "That better not be what I think it is."
Cloud stopped thinking long enough to smile at her. "What do you think it is? Because I'm kind of seeing a television set."
"Don't mock me with your semantics, Strife, or I'll put you outside."
"I'd much rather have some lemonade."
"Oh, well, you'd better come and get it yourself, then. If you can put that tape in yourself than you can get your own lemonade!"
Cloud chuckled and got up, following Aerith to the kitchen, where Leon heard them conversing quietly amidst the noise of cupboard doors opening. He felt a momentarily stab of jealousy—how Cloud and Aerith managed to remain so close after breaking up was beyond him—then let it go. He didn't need to join Cloud in the club for jealous assholes.
"Leon," Selphie whined in his ear, reminding him that she was still on the phone. "C'mon! It'll be so much fun. We can eat all her food and trash her house and then order her to say she did it or something. Don't you think that would be fun?"
"That sounds sadistic. I'm proud."
Selphie giggled. "Thanks. So, will you come?"
Cloud returned, looking very bemused, with two glasses of lemonade in hand. Leon accepted one and allowed Cloud to rejoin him on the couch, sitting much closer than he had been before. Before he could give Selphie a definite answer, Cloud took the phone from him, said, "Can't," and closed it.
Leon raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Aerith's going on a date with Vincent Valentine that day," Cloud said as though that explained everything. Which it did.
Leon slipped his cell phone back into his pocket and settled down on the couch, his arms thrown over the back. And if Cloud shifted just that much closer, neither of them decided to mention it.
Riku watched in horror as Sora collapsed and, for one wild moment, he thought that it was his fault, that Sora couldn't handle the things Riku was promising to do to him and had passed out. Then, his common sense kicked in and he knelt down beside Sora's limp form, pressing two fingers against Sora's forehead. His pulse was beating a little faster than usual and his face was flushed, but, other than that, Sora seemed fine.
Around them, people continued dancing as though nothing was wrong. The couple nearest to them had stopped and the girl that had been pestering him for a date earlier offered to call the ambulance, but Riku shook his head. Something wasn't right, but it wasn't a medical thing.
He leaned closer and smelled Sora's breath. There was no trace of alcohol, but that didn't mean anything. Vodka, for instance, left no discernable trace until you drank too much of it and started acting stupid.
Riku was about to pick Sora up when Sora came to with a groan, his eyes clouded and searching. He stroked Sora's cheek lightly, ignoring the crowd of people that now gathered around them.
"Hey, Sora. You alright?" he asked quietly, smiling when Sora leaned into his touch and purred. "Obviously not."
"Mm," Sora stretched, causing his shirt to ride up even further. Riku had to look away. "Probably shouldn't… shouldn't have drank that water so fast."
Riku helped Sora to his feet, waving away anyone's attempts to help, and glared over at the bartender. He helped Sora wobble over to a stool and carefully sat him down on one, then slammed his hands down on the bar and glowered. "What the hell did you give him?"
"Straight vodka," the bartender said indifferently. "Tell your boy it was a 6-foot glass, not a shot. Next time he should take his time."
"He asked for water! And he's fifteen! That's a crime!"
"So's underage drinking. I had my orders and he'll be fine in the morning."
Riku was about to ask on whose orders the bartender had done something that stupid when he remembered that Leon's folks owned the club, which was how he'd gotten in so quickly in the first place. He reached out and caught Sora before he toppled off the stool, making a mental note to chew Leon out on Monday. As if Riku would really sink as low as to take advantage of Sora while he was drunk. That was just sick.
Riku gave the bartender one last glare, then got Sora back on his feet and headed for the door. Sora pressed himself along Riku's side, making it a little hard for Riku to walk. And think straight.
"Did you get me more water?" Sora asked, pressing his face against Riku's neck. "You smell good."
"We're going home." Sora was giggling for a full minute before Riku realized the implications of that statement. "Not for that! Ugh, just get in the car."
Sora had to try twice to open the car door and then he curled up into a fetal position in the passenger seat and immediately fell asleep. Riku watched him, clenching his fists so hard he nearly cut his palm. No. No. It wasn't right. He closed the door and walked around to his side, speeding in his haste to put as much distance between Sora and that club as possible.
To his immense relief, his mother wasn't home to ask questions. Riku led Sora up the stairs to his bedroom, taking the three discarded outfit choices off his bed before allowing Sora to collapse on it. Sora turned onto his stomach, his face turned toward Riku and his shirt riding up even more.
Riku swallowed.
"Hey," Sora said in a tired little voice, training glazed eyes on Riku as Riku pulled a chair up by the bed and sat on it. "How come you want to sleep with me so badly?"
There were many reasonable responses to that question that had nothing to do with video cameras or being popular, but Riku didn't use any of them. Instead he said, "You should probably sleep off that vodka."
Sora smiled, eyes half-lidded, and Riku could see how exhausted he was. How helpless. It wouldn't be that hard for him to just retrieve the camera in the closet. Maybe Leon had had the right idea. Maybe this was the only way he could accomplish this in a month. Then he could end this whole thing with Sora before he got in too deep.
He glanced at the closet, tempted.
A warm hand closed around his thigh as Sora inevitably drew Riku's attention back to him. "Riku…"
"Y-Yeah?"
"I want to…" Sora licked his lips and sat up slightly. "I do want…"
"Shh," Riku said, pushing him back down again. "You're drunk, Sora. You don't know what—"
"Kiss me."
Riku nearly fell out of his chair. Sora was keeping Riku's hand pressed against his chest and he could feel the way Sora's heartbeat quickened beneath his fingers. He looked so honest, so eager, so much like everything Riku had ever even imagined he might want.
But it wasn't right. Riku pulled his hand away. "Sora, I can't."
"I knew it," Sora murmured, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes. "I knew someone like you could never seriously like someone like me." The tears fell freely. "I knew this had to be some kind of joke."
It is some kind of joke, Riku thought, feeling his own eyes sting. I can't want you that way.
Sora's hand moved from Riku's thigh to grab a fistful of Riku's shirt. "Can't you even pretend that you could? Just for a minute? It's just a—"
Riku kissed him. It was supposed to be chaste, but as soon as Sora's mouth fell open under his, he lost it. Sora tasted like vodka and smelled like lilac and cologne and Sora and Riku was helpless to do more than groan and close his hands around Sora's face to keep him from moving. When Sora did move, however, it was closer, straddling Riku on the chair and running his fingers through Riku's hair.
That jolted Riku back to his senses and he tore his lips away from Sora's and gently pushed Sora away. "We should—we should stop. You're drunk, Sora. I can't."
Sora smiled a little sadly and curled up on the bed again. This time, his back was to Riku.
"Sora…" Riku said, pained. "Sora, please don't be mad at me."
"'m not. You're being all chivalrous. And my mouth is starting to taste like ass." Sora glanced at him over his shoulder and smiled, this one actually meeting his eyes. "Night-night, Riku."
Then, as though he'd used up the last of his energy to say goodnight, Sora's eyes slipped shut and he was snoring quietly. Riku watched Sora's chest rise and fall with each breath he took and, impulsively, he brushed his hand across Sora's smooth cheek.
"I don't deserve you," he whispered softly. "But I wish I did."
He heard the door open and close downstairs and tucked Sora in, putting the chair back in the corner and turning off the lights. He stood in the doorway for a moment, just watching Sora sleep, then closed the door and went to the living room to greet his mother.
Ayumi looked surprised to see him. "You're home extremely early," she pointed out, removing her shoes. "Did things not go well with Sora?"
"Actually… things went great," Riku said awkwardly. "We went to Club Aurora and we had a really great time."
Ayumi raised an eyebrow for him to continue. Riku wasn't surprised. He knew where he'd gotten his brains from.
"But… Sora got a hold of some vodka and now he's passed out in my bedroom."
Ayumi looked horrified for a moment before she turned a suspicious gaze on Riku. "You didn't do anything to him, did you? If you had anything to do with that—"
"I wouldn't do something like that!"
"Of course you wouldn't," but she did look more at ease. She walked up to him and brushed her fingers through his hair. "Go get some sleep. Tomorrow you can go get some headache pills for Sora since I'm assuming this will be his first hangover. I'll call Seiya and tell her what happened."
Reassured, Riku went over to the couch and began moving the cushions to create a makeshift bed. "I'll sleep here?"
"Why?"
"I'm afraid if I try falling asleep next to Sora, I'll molest him in my sleep and Sora will wake up without his virginity."
Ayumi laughed. "If you say so. Goodnight."
Riku got himself some blankets from the linen closet and got comfortable on the couch. "'Night, Mom. Thanks."
The lights went off and Ayumi's footsteps faded up the stairs. Riku lay awake for a long time, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't believe he'd even considered taking advantage of Sora in that state. He couldn't believe he technically had. How was he going to explain that to Sora in the event Sora actually remembered everything in the morning?
The silence of the house and the darkness of the room calmed him enough to close his eyes. He could worry about all that in the morning. With that, he fell asleep, thinking of the way Sora had danced with him in the club and smiling subconsciously.
