Chapter ten is up! It contains a smidgen of violence, Emotional!Riku (Sweet mother of cliché, not 'emo') and Snarky!Roxas. Feedback of all kinds will be appreciated.

I don't own so don't sue.

The suggestion struck Riku to his very core. "What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to go out and grab a beer to celebrate. I don't mind buying."

"I thought you just got out of jail for—"

His father held up a hand and grinned wryly. "I told you, I didn't actually kill the guy."

Riku's nausea intensified, and he truly thought he was going to be sick.

"Oh, don't give me that look. It's not like I'm asking you to go rob a bank. A couple of beers never hurt anyone."

"I don't believe it. You have got to be kidding me…" Then the nausea was joined with utter disbelief, perhaps denial. "What happened to wanting to start over?"

His father folded his arms impatiently. "I did. I spoke to your mother, I found you, and we're father and son again. The beer's just to help ease us into it. Besides, you look like you could use some—"

Riku rubbed his forehead in frustration. "You tell me you almost killed someone by driving drunk, proudly declare you want to change, and then you try and drag me out to get alcohol? Doesn't that seem just a little inappropriately timed to you?"

"It's for celebration's sake."

"I'm not going."

"Geez, Riku," He sighed scratching his dirty blonde hair with a twinge of irritation. "I've had a hard time these past couple of years, and coming to see you today wasn't especially easy either. I deserve a little break, but you and your mom refuse to give me one."

And that was when Riku snapped. "It's supposed to be hard!" He shouted, surprising himself with his outcry. "Making a life change isn't supposed to be easy; if it was, you wouldn't learn anything! You don't know how hard it was for me to let you in here, let alone sit down and talk to you. I can't even look you in the eye without completely losing it. But I did it all because I had to! The fact that it's hard isn't an excuse!"

The next thing he knew, his head was forcefully jerked to the side, and a searing pain was spreading over his right cheek bone. It wasn't until his father's hand dropped down to his side that he realized he'd been hit.

"I have been dragged through the court system so many times I have my lawyer's number memorized." His father said darkly. "I've sat at every bar on this side of the country, drowning out my regrets one sweet bottle of liquor at a time, knowing that my life was so far down the hole I couldn't even see sunlight. I've sat in prison after almost killing, killing someone, and all of it is because of your mother. She left me! She just left! You have no idea what that kind of pain is like. I loved her like I've never loved anyone else, and she betrayed me. Don't go lecturing me about dealing with life's hardships. You have no idea how hard it is to lose the one person you thought you could trust in this world!"

Riku gingerly touched the swollen area on his cheek, and he could understand why his right eye was watering so profusely. It was the tears falling from his left eye that he didn't understand.

Then, to his horror, he realized he was crying.

He brushed the area again, simultaneously wiping away the tears, then straightened up with the help of the doorknob. "I'm not going to argue with you over who had the harder time getting to this point," he said slowly; so fed up, so tired and ill from all of this that he simply couldn't find the energy to sound argumentative. "But I do have a pretty good idea what it's like to lose someone you trust." His eyes were flashing at this point, but he couldn't bring his gaze any farther up than his father's chin. Riku didn't care though. He twisted the door knob he was gripping, and let the door swing open.

The man before him grunted, feeling a twinge of something like shame. He looked over his son, the tears, and he winced at the bruise. "Listen, I…"

"I'd like you to leave."

XxX

Sora merrily ate his Horne as he swung his feet underneath the table. He had considered other possible ways to irritate this Roxas character, and found that changing his order from a simple coffee with whipped cream to a roasted hazelnut Frappe blended with vanilla, topped with chocolate whipped cream and a mocha drizzle would do perfectly.

He glanced over the counter at him and grinned at the scowl occupying the young employee's face as he blended the coffee together. Sora supposed he should have felt ashamed of himself for acting so childish, but neither Riku nor Kairi were there to give him a hard time about it.

The man that had been standing behind him in line intelligently ordered a simple cup of tea.

Sora looked out the window again, this time watching the rain hammer against some poor cyclist as he waited on the corner for traffic to clear. His backpack and windbreaker were completely drenched, as were his helmet and bike. Sora was contemplating the likelihood of a car zooming past and sending a wave of water over him, when he heard a sharp tap from the corner of his table.

"Your roasted hazelnut frappe blend is ready." Roxas tossed a few napkins down next to the drink and glared at Sora irately. "Is that all?"

Sora opened his mouth to say something smug, but changed his mind as he saw the positively homicidal glower sent down at him. "Yes, Thanks."

Roxas nodded, then headed behind the counter to clean up the utensils.

Sora sipped the iced coffee contentedly, only to find that he didn't particularly care for it. It had been fun picking out random and amusing ingredients to fluster the poor barista, but he didn't really like all of the fancy extracts and creams blended in. When it came right down to it, he really preferred the generic coffee Riku made every morning.

But he wasn't about to say anything to Roxas.

He did like the chocolate whipped cream though, and spent a fair amount of time sucking it down loudly with his straw.

A while later, Sora felt the odd sensation that he was alone. He brushed the crumbs off his lips and looked around hesitantly, to find that he was in fact, the only customer in the café.

The man with the tea had gone, the other few customers had probably headed out a while ago. Even the cyclist on the corner had managed to cross the street. Sora glanced back up at the counter, and found that Roxas was no where to be found either.

Surely the place wasn't closed already!

Locking someone inside a closed café did seem like something that shady Roxas character would have done, Sora thought, as he surveyed the area once more just to make sure. The place was positively barren.

He was just about to get up to pry the door open, when he heard a clatter coming from behind the counter. The doors to the back swung open, and there was the boy in question, gripping a metal baking sheet, looking somewhat distressed.

Roxas caught Sora's questioning gaze and offered a small shrug. "I thought I'd at least attempt baking a couple pans of oatmeal-raisin cookies. The counter looks kind of pathetic." He then proceeded to shuffle the contents of the tray into the glass display counter, onto one of the platters.

Both of them scrunched up there noses.

The confections may have been freshly made, but they were misshapen and dark on the bottom. Something that looked like a cross between an owl and a partially crushed telephone was especially burned, so Roxas tried his best to hide it behind the others.

"Um," he sighed, "Maybe I'd better not try to replace the croissants…"

"They're not that bad," Sora offered. "They're like...snow flakes." He wasn't exactly interested in being nice, but he did have a certain level of sympathy for people that weren't especially good at cooking…or taking out the trash…or doing laundry.

Roxas shrugged. "Whatever." He too surveyed the restaurant, and found that it was empty except for himself and Sora. Rather than lament over his wasted efforts to make the pastries, he tried to pick up on some of that small talk his only customer seemed to be fond of. "So…what's your name anyway?"

"Sora," he said, turning around in his chair.

"Well Sora, what brings you here…for such a long period of time?"

"What?"

Roxas tilted his head towards the clock on the wall. "You've been here for almost three hours. I could see it if you were here with someone, or if you were… I don't know, reading the paper, but you're just sitting there giving me a hard time." He grinned, something Sora had thought he was incapable of. "My charming personality and lovable disposition are reputable, but I doubt that's why you're here in the middle of a downpour."

Sora shrugged, noting that the conditions outside had only lessened a little. "I had some time to kill."

"Well, how much time are you planning on wasting here?"

Sora frowned. "Why does it matter?!"

"To be perfectly honest, the sooner you leave, the sooner I get to take the break I'm not supposed to have for another two hours."

Sora snorted and pushed the chair in front of him out with his foot. "You can sit. I won't tell."

Roxas looked at him hesitantly, then shifted his gaze to the chair. Sora didn't seem to care one way or the other, so Roxas slipped from the back of the counter to the chair he was offered.

"Thanks."

"Whatever. Just don't make a habit out of it."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Right."

The two stared out the window for a few moments, and commented here and there about the weather's condition, betting on how long it would be before it stopped. The rain did appear to be slowing down some. Sora liked the idle chatter, even though he wasn't particularly fond of the person he was having it with. He had to admit though, that the longer he stayed, the more he enjoyed the company.

"That's why it always rains when you're not prepared for it." Roxas finished, satisfied.

Sora opened his mouth to deny and find his own counter points for everything Roxas had just said, but he stopped to sniff the air. "Hey…do you smell that?"

Roxas sniffed the air as well and paused for a moment. "Hm… that kinda smells like…" his eyes shot open and he launched himself from the chair. "That other pan of cookies!"

"Might wanna go check on that."

Roxas glared at him before running to the back of the café into the kitchen. He returned a short while later with a pan of smoldering brown lumps.

Sora covered his nose. "Geez, what did you do, broil them?"

"No! I left them in the oven after I took out the first pan because they weren't quite done yet!"

"Well, they're done no—"

"Shut up!" He rummaged around in the drawer for a spatula and scraped the burned mounds into the trash. After examining the baking pan, he tossed it in the trash as well. "This is coming out of my paycheck."

"It might."

He ignored Sora and groaned, tilting his head towards the ceiling. "Riku, why did you do this to me? You couldn't have taken off when someone else could fill in?"

Sora's ears perked at the mention of his roommate's name. "Speaking of whom, I should probably get back home. He should have had enough time."

"Enough time to what?"

"Nothing," Sora waved him off and pulled himself out of his seat. "You might want to open a window or something. It smells really bad."

"Yeah, thanks." He rolled his eyes. "Wanna rub some salt and lemon juice in the wound while you're at it?"

"If you've got some handy."

"Bye Sora."

"Bye."

He made his way to the door and pushed it open, hearing the little bell jingle as he left. The rain was nothing more than mist at this point, but Sora still hurried home to avoid as much moisture as possible.

XxX

Sora headed up the elevator of the apartment complex while whistling merrily to himself. Overall, the day would have been rather enjoyable if not for the rain. He heard his shoes squeak on the hard and previously clean elevator floor.

The elevator doors opened with a shrill ding and he stepped out and onto the patterned carpeting. The warm glow of incandescent light bulbs surrounded him, and it was comforting after walking alone in the cold rain. He grinned at the familiar row of doors with the gold numbering, eager to find his own door and plunge the key into the lock. He hoped Riku was in the mood for talking, as he could think of a hundred questions he wanted to ask the boy. He also wanted to give him a piece of his mind regarding his walk in the rain, but that part of their conversation wasn't nearly as anticipated as his questioning. Sora was going to positively squeeze every last detail right out of his roommate.

He counted the numbers of the apartments silently and grinned when he approached his own door. He jammed the key in the doorknob and entered.

It felt marvelous to be home! He kicked off his shoes and immediately began surveying the living room for Riku.

He wasn't there.

Sora shrugged and headed into the kitchenette, calling out his roommate's name. There was no answer; the kitchen was empty.

Sora was baffled as he headed down the hall. Then it occurred to him that his roommate was in his room sleeping, and he was probably right, as the door was closed.

He grunted. There was no way a little thing like sleep was going deprive him of a proper interrogation. He rapped on the door sharply and called his name loudly. "Riku! Hey! I'm home!"

There was some shuffling, and a distinctly not-sleepy voice followed. "Sora? That you?"

"Yep," he chirped. "If you aren't doing anything, then get out here. I wanna talk!"

There was a pause before the voice that followed, and Sora wondered if he had interrupted something.

"Yeah," Riku said at last, somewhat hesitantly. "I'll be out in a minute."

Sora was satisfied and headed out into the living room to wait.

It was a full seven minutes before Riku emerged, Sora observed, and he wasn't happy about having to wait so long either. If he was going to take that long he should have at least fixed his hair. It was combed over awkwardly, completely covering his right eye. Sora shook his head.

"Alright, what?"

"What do you mean 'What?'" Sora bounced up and down on the couch, outraged at such an idiotic question. "How did it go?! What happened? What was it like?"

Riku sighed, running his hand along the arm of the couch before sitting down a fair distance away from Sora. "Uh, it was um…different."

"Uh-huh!" Sora's eager expression hadn't changed. "And?"

"And…that's it."

"You can't be serious."

"I…am." He cleared his throat and turned his head away.

Sora looked disappointed for a minute, but then his face brightened suddenly. "Oh! Oh I get it!"

Riku held back an eye roll. "Something tells me that you don't."

"No, no!" Sora scooted over and jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. "It's all perfectly clear Mister I'm-too-cool-to-admit-that-Sora-was-right."

"What?"

"Yeah! I bet you two had a great time and really did want that spiced cider—"

Riku held up a hand and cut him off before he could go off on something completely ridiculous. "No Sora, we didn't want any spiced cider. It's exactly like I told you. I don't have anything else to say."

There was a flatness in his voice that led Sora to think he was lying. He sounded mechanical and cold.

Sora sat back into the couch. "You know," he started carefully, trying to sound as reasonable as possible. "It's okay if things didn't work out how you wanted. I mean, no one could have predicted how everything was going to go, and maybe it just wasn't meant to be." He glanced over at Riku who was trying his best to face the other direction. Sora pursed his lips. "You know?"

"Yeah."

"Um…and who knows?" Sora tried again. "You may have another opportunity to try again in the future. Your dad has probably realized by now that he's missing out on a pretty great guy. He's probably planning on his next visit as we speak." He smiled nervously, but Riku still wasn't facing him.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Riku?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe you."

He sighed. "I'm fine Sora."

"I still don't believe you."

Riku sighed again, this time with more frustration. "Well, I guess there isn't anything I can do about that, now is there?"

Sora pursed his lips again, gulping before starting. "Then turn around."

Riku's back stiffened. "Why?"

"Because then I'll be able to tell if you're lying. I want to see your face."

"Sora—"

"Just do it! I won't leave you alone until you do."

Riku seemed to wrestle with the idea for a moment or two, and then he realized that there was probably truth in those words. Smoothing his hair down reflexively, he turned slowly.

Sora stared at Riku.

Riku stared at the floor.

It was silent for a few moments, but Riku broke it. "Can we change the subject now?"

Sora was examining his face closely; he was practically on top of Riku, which made him flinch uncomfortably.

"What are you doing?"

"Be quiet for a minute."

"Sora!"

"I'm examining you."

"Well stop it. It's creeping me out."

"Shut up."

Another minute or two passed, and Riku was feeling more than uncomfortable. Finally, Sora sat back against the couch and let out a stream of air.

"Are you finished?"

Sora nodded. "I just wish you'd tell me what's wrong."

"I already told you."

Riku was waved away. "I know what you said. I just…I know I haven't been living with you for a full year yet, but I'd like to think you trust me enough to at least help you out. We're pretty good friends, right?"

Riku chewed his lip. "Yes, we are."

"Then let me help you. I may not be able to offer advice, but at least I can listen."

There was something in his voice that made Riku's heart hurt. It was so warm, and inviting, and honest. He wanted to say something…everything but there was an uncertainty he simply couldn't get past. Sora wasn't just trying to guilt him into talking, and he was sure he wasn't egging him of just for the information. Sora genuinely wanted to help; Riku didn't even have to look at him in order to see that. So why was he feeling so hesitant? Was it that he felt undeserving? Shy? Embarrassed? He thought it was a mixture of all three, but then he couldn't be sure. The answer was simple, but too complicated for Riku to even come close to figuring out.

He shifted nervously, running a hand down his face.

Sora waited patiently, watching closely. He saw the emotions flickering around his roommate's face, like they did that morning on the balcony. But these were not the same ones he had seen. These made Sora feel nervous. These were pained, uncertain in an entirely different way, and they made his chest ache.

Riku's movements were slow. He ran his hand down his face again, this time stopping a little above his nose. With a sigh, he let his fingers lace into the silver locks of hair, and pulled them back just far enough to expose the area around his right eye.

Sora's breath hitched. "Riku, what happened?!"

Riku didn't know what to say. It didn't matter though, because Sora reached out and tilted his chin this way and that, examining the side of his face tenderly.

Riku closed his eyes involuntarily, and grimaced as Sora's fingers brushed the edge of the bruised skin.

"Riku, please tell me he didn't hit you..."

"It was really my fault. I shouldn't have—"

Sora shook his head. "No, don't. There's nothing you could have done to make him…" he chewed his lip. "Did you put ice on it?"

"Earlier."

"You need more. Can you see?"

"A little."

Sora nodded, but alarm washed over him again. He couldn't keep the panic out of his voice. "Are you hurt anywhere else? Riku, if I had known he was going to beat you up I never would have—"

"It's just my eye." He muttered.

"I don't believe this. I'm so sorry." Sora slid his hands down his face to cup his chin. "Listen to me," Sora said seriously, staring intently at Riku's closed eyes. "I don't care how badly he wants to see you again. Anyone, especially your own father has no right to hurt you like this. Don't give him the satisfaction of getting to know you." Sora couldn't help himself. He was so disgusted with his father's actions, and his condition that he pulled Riku close, hugging him tightly.

Riku couldn't bear it. He felt tears running down his face, stinging his swollen eye and pooling into Sora's shirt. He found himself clinging to Sora, barely holding back his shudder.

And then he started talking.

He told Sora everything; from the way his mother left his father and him too many years ago to remember, to the letters, the alcohol and the fights. He told him about his mother's eyes, and how his father came home every night in a drunken tirade screaming about her new life and how she didn't deserve him. He told Sora about leaving, about how he still couldn't look people straight in the eye, and how he couldn't bring his gaze any farther up to a person's neckline without becoming dizzy and nauseous. He told about how his father requested he do it earlier, that he came so close to suffocating that he could feel his own heart heaving in his throat.

He told Sora everything, even things he didn't remember up until now. It all came out so easily, freely. He just talked and talked, and Sora listened. Riku wasn't even sure if he was making sense anymore.

When he finished, he was still holding onto Sora. He felt better, so much better.

Sora didn't say anything for a long while after. He was so quiet Riku wondered if he had said too much. Then, Sora pushed Riku back gently by the shoulders. "Riku," he said quietly, chewing his lip. "I want you to open your eyes."