A/N: tumblr prompt, "Things you said when you cried." SoRiku, from anon. READERS: If you're interested in prompting me, head on over to my tumblr! It's sylvermyth (with a y). I accept anonymous asks if you don't have an account!

Inseparable

They'd been friends when they were children, Sora and Riku. Inseparable, always going on adventures and getting into trouble together. Kairi moved into the house next to Sora, and the two boys welcomed her into their circle without much hesitation, but it was unspoken that Sora and Riku were friends to each other, first, before Kairi.

They made it through primary school like that, a tight-knit trio cavorting in the neighborhood, playing in the schoolyard. They pretended to be heroes, fighting fearsome creatures with sticks for swords. The climbed the old oak tree, and pretended they were in the jungle with Tarzan. They played video games, and sometimes they got a little too competitive, and one time a young Sora had yelled, "I don't wanna be friends anymore!" tears streaming down his face after Riku had defeated his character for what seemed like the hundredth time. Of course, they were just kids, and Sora took Riku back the very next day, as if nothing had happened.

But things changed as they grew older. Sometime around middle school, they started drifting apart. Even Kairi was different, or maybe they suddenly noticed she was a girl. They were supposed to like girls, and maybe that's where it started. Their competitions became fiercer, their attention on who would win Kairi—without even thinking about how Kairi felt about it.

It turned out Kairi had no interest in either of them as more than friends, but by the time they realized it, Riku had already turned away and found other people to hang out with. Other people to play his video games with and hang out with over the weekends, and they were bullies, and sometimes Sora was their target.

Rumors around school were that Riku's new friends did things besides bully the other students, that they vandalized, and smoked, and drank. The kinds of things that could land you in serious trouble, and Sora tried. He tried to talk Riku out of the 'bad crowd.' "Riku, please, they're bad people, and you know it!"

Riku sent him a flat look. "Like you know anything about it, Sora. Get lost." No inflection. No hint that he even cared about what Sora had to say.

"Riku, why aren't we friends anymore?" Sora's eyes shone brightly, and the first tear spilled over before Riku could reply.

"Why would I be friends with someone like you?" And that was it. Riku turned his back and walked away, and after that, Sora rarely saw him.

Kairi was the first one to hear that Riku had run away from home. Riku's family had always been distant, Sora remembered, but he still could never imagine leaving home like that.

Sora wondered if the cell number Kairi got from one of Riku's other 'friends' would even work when he sent the text. I miss you Riku. Come back. Sora cried, because Riku's sudden disappearance left an unexpected ache in his chest. It was different, somehow, from Riku choosing his other friends. He could still see Riku, then, in the halls, sometimes, or lounging in the parking lot with the other guys.

There was no response for a week, and then a month, and Sora's chest felt tight and heavy. He'd never imagined a future without Riku.

Another month passed, before Sora's phone let out the cheerful jingle indicating a new text. Take care of Kairi. It was from the number listed as Riku in his phone, and Sora felt a new hope.

If that was what Riku was worried about—Kairi's worried about you. Are you okay?

I'm fine. Take care.

Riku, come back.

I'm sorry, Sora.

There's nothing to be sorry about.

Sora sighed. After that, nothing from his childhood friend. A year went by, and then another. Sora sometimes sent messages to Riku's number, just in case. A message about his college decision. About all the extra-curriculars his university offered, and Hey, you can even take Kendo as a class! Remember when we used to pretend to have sword fights?

"Sora, I don't think he's coming back." This from Kairi, in their sophomore year in college. She had a sad look on her face, and of course she didn't understand, she wasn't there the whole time. She didn't know Riku.

And Sora told her that. "You don't know him. He'll come back."

"Sora," and Kairi's voice was soft, not condescending, exactly, but her tone said that she did know better. "I'm not saying you should give up on him. But can you really say you know him? It's been years." Sympathy.

Sora sent one last text to the silent number. I'm deleting this number. I won't bother you anymore. And he did, tears still hot on his face. Because Kairi was right.

He never stopped wondering if Riku was okay.

Sora was at his part time job, at a Cosi because Starbucks wasn't hiring, getting ready to close, when a customer walked in, and Sora knew that hair color. His face was older, sporting an expression Sora had never seen on him, hesitant, like he didn't know what he was doing, but it was Riku.

It didn't matter how many years were between them, or how many mistakes Riku might've made.

All that mattered was that when Sora jumped the counter, and wrapped his arms around Riku, he was real, and warm, and he was carefully placing his hands on Sora's back.

"You stink," Sora told Riku's chest. He was afraid to look up, because the tears were streaming down his face, but this time, they were happy tears. "You really smell bad," he reiterated, his nose scrunching a bit, because Riku smelled like stale sweat, like someone who had been in a car for too long.

"I'm sorry," Riku murmured.

Sora finally pulled out of the hug, to land a punch on Riku's shoulder. "You should be!" His indignant anger melted quickly, though. "But you came back!" He pulled Riku into another hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Sor."

"Sora, I'm touched by your reunion, but the store's not going to close itself." Leon's voice cut through the moment, bringing them back to the present.

Sora pointed at one of the tables. "Sit. You're not leaving."

"No, I'm not." Riku sat down as instructed, a small smile playing at his lips. "We've got a lot to catch up on."

"Yeah." Sora flashed him a grin, the grin he'd always used with Riku. "I knew you'd come back, Riku."