I swear to God I'll never understand
How you can stand there straight and tall
And see I'm crying
And not do anything at all…
Catherine – The Last Five Years
Sora smiled bitter sweetly as he sat along the edge of the pier. His opening show had gone well. He had slipped up once, but Axel had made it look perfectly natural. It was an overall good night. But…. 'Why couldn't Riku come?'
This was the question that had throbbed through his head the entire performance. It was a question that had haunted their relationship from day one. Riku always had an excuse. For being late, for disregarding his presence at his concerts, for not even bothering to write one single letter while Sora was on tour. There was always something that kept him from coming as close as they had been earlier in their relationship. Sora smiled briefly, remembering how soft Riku's skin was to the touch, and how his eyes seemed to light up in a certain light…
Riku looked at Sora, his voice soft and smooth. He held Sora's body closer to him, the grass beneath him cool and refreshing. "You're not cold, are you?"
Sora simply smiled. "With you here? Nah. Let the world freeze over. As long as I've got you, it doesn't matter to me."
"And now look at us." Sora said softly to the water. Now what? Now Sora was dangling his bare feet off a pier somewhere in Who-the-hell-knows where, while once again, Riku had to do something. 'Or someone', Sora's mind added ruefully. It was true; Sora had his suspicions. He had caught Riku more than once after a concert, chatting up some other guy. Maybe he was just jealous. But it seemed that in the recent months, Riku's emotions seemed more distant than ever before.
A husky voice cut through his thoughts. "Hey, kid." Sora's eyes widened. His voice quivered as he spoke.
"Riku?" When a simple "yeah" had been the response, Sora jumped back up onto the planks of the pier and kissed his lover deeply. "You came…" Sora spoke as he nestled his head in the crook of Riku's neck. He loved this man. No matter how angry he got, or how tight situations got, he'd always pull through, in the end. He had come. He truly did care! 'Everything will be alright, now…He'll hold me like he used to, and we'll kiss under the stars, and everything will get better.'
"Well, yeah. I said I would, dummy. Now let me look at you." Sora stepped back and allowed Riku to give him a once-over. "Jesus, where did you get that sweater from?" Sora blushed. He had forgotten that he was still wearing the pink sweater he had stolen from Axel's closet.
"I was cold, and I couldn't find anything." He looked down in disdain for the clothing. "I look like I just came out of a sewing circle, don't I?" Riku snickered, his smile melting away all of Sora's previous worries. "So, since you're here, tomorrow, do you want to go sight-seeing? Maybe go to a museum? Or would you prefer to just stay at home?" Riku's eyes fell to the ground, his smile shifting nervously. "What? What's wrong?"
"Sorry, kid. I've got to go back tomorrow. Tidus needs me to practice with him for the concerto he's doing." A fire sparked in Sora's eyes.
"But…you just got here!" Riku's gaze stayed fixed on his shoes. "…I mean, can't Tidus practice on his own?" Riku walked past him and sat down on the edge of the pier. "But…what about seeing my show? Or--or…"
Riku's voice was distant. "Sorry, kid. I have to be back in New York tomorrow afternoon. What can I do?" Sora sighed as he joined Riku sitting down, but decided against an outburst.
"You know what? Fine. Whatever. You know, I'll just see you when I get back from this tour. Right?"
"Yeah." Sora's mind revolted. 'That…FUCKER! That lying, egomaniacal, unfaithful, sanctimonious ASSHOLE!'
"'Yeah!' That's it?"Sora snapped. "That's all you have to say to me?"
Riku shrugged, his mood a little colder and unattached. "I guess. I mean, I love you. You know that. I'm just busy." Sora snorted, his feelings now completely uncontrollable.
"Oh, yeah. Let me tell you. You're busy of somewhere fucking that little asswad Tidus, while I'm here, in the middle of fucking NOWHERE, waiting for you to finally come to visit me! And of course, you get here, and you can't even wait one day to even come watch my show, because you're too wrapped up in your own fucking egotistical life, ignoring me and screwing around with Tidus, and who knows who the fuck else!" Riku bristled a bit at this, and stood up from the pier.
Timidly, he said, "Sora, you know you're my one and only." Sora's eyes widened in anger. His mind was fuming with more expletives than his mouth could comprehend, and his eyes were now trickling out hot tears of hatred, which were now mingling with the water below.
"Oh, bullSHIT! I see you all the time, your arms around other guys, catching you and motherfucking Tidus swapping spit! Am I really that bad a person, that you turned to TIDUS for an affair?" Riku started to speak, but Sora cut him off.
"Guess what tomorrow was. Just guess." Riku shrugged from behind him, clearly irritated.
Riku groaned in irritation. "I don't know, Sora. What was it? Closing night? Some seemingly unimportant date that I won't care about?" Sora laughed indignantly. He pulled his ring of his finger, hazily remembering when he got it.
Riku looked at Sora. He was in the perfect moment. Sora was right there, the evening sun setting through his room's window. The after-sex smell was abundant all over, in a way that made it seem as if Sora embodied sex. The younger boy looked at him lazily, in a way that made Riku want to hole up in the younger boy's chest and live there, in a world that would never hurt him, never turn him away. Riku spoke, almost not trusting his voice.
"Sora?"
"Yeah?" Riku reached over on the floor and fished the object he had been holding all night out of his pants pocket.
Riku held out the ruby-studded ring. "Will you…will you share your life with me? Please? Not for forever…Just for a little while, and if you get sick of me…then you can give the ring back and never have to see me again…"
Sora gingerly fingered the ring, contemplating how their love could have gone that far south. He spoke regretfully, desperately wishing the world could go back to the way it was. "No, Riku…"
Sora spoke, wide-eyed. "Yes! Of course I will! Forever!" He kissed Riku as he took the ring from his hand. "How'd I ever end up with a guy like you?"
Sora halted, tears again stinging his eyes. "...No, Riku…" he started again, "It's not closing night. It's not even our anniversary." He stood, legs shaking. He took the ring off his finger.
"I love you, Sora."
"Then what is it?" Riku asked, his anger coming to a boil.
"I love you, too, Riku. Forever, I do."
Sora pushed the ring back into Riku's hands for the first time in five years. "It's my birthday." Riku's eyes went wide, a bit of regret pricking the surface of his face.
"Goodbye, Riku."
Riku caressed his lover's hair as the boy fell asleep in his lap. "I know, Sora. Forever."
Fin.
AN: Okay, here goes. 1) I will finish Stage Hands soon. I will. Consider this a binding contract. 2) I'm currently a part of NaNoWriMo, (look it up if you don't know what it is) which means that I'll have a nice new story out after November is over! Yay! 3) As You may have realized, I can't write 2 novels at the same time. So, regrettably, I'm going to have to put Stage Hands on the back burner for a li'l while. However, Ch. 5 is, like, 30 done, so it'll be revving to go by, maybe Decmber? Well, au reviour for a little while, faithful readers!