I'm sure I look like a liar now, don't I? XD I'm so sorry for the lack in updating. I was all set to adhere to my schedule, but a nasty case of writer's block set in. (My usual problem is finding the time to actually do the work). Then, just as I picked up writing again, my lovely computer developed some very frustrating system issues. Luckily I was able to recover my work, but it was quite a scare! Anyway, I'm terribly sorry that I didn't get things done as timely as I said I would, but here's the next chapter anyway. Thanks so much for sticking with this thing so long. Your feedback really means a lot to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own, so don't sue

Sora barely heard the small click at the door when Riku entered. He was having a somewhat amusing dream, and he enjoyed his slumber so much that he was reluctant to get up. Still, he didn't want Riku to notice that he had probably been drooling all over the pillows, so he forced himself to open his eyes.

Riku strode in quietly and blinked in surprise when he saw Sora sit up on the couch. Up until then he hadn't even noticed that he was in the room.

"Ooooh, you're home." Sora yawned, raking his hands through his hair. "How was work?"

"Uh, fine." Riku shifted nervously. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah, but it's okay." He yawned again. "I was going to get up anyway."

"Were you now?"

"...Yes."

Riku shrugged and headed into the kitchenette. He rummaged around for a bit, stopped, then rummaged around a bit more. Sora took this time to stretch again and pull himself from his still lethargic state, but he did wonder dimly what Riku was doing in there. It occurred to him that he was hunting for food or something, and that was all well and good until Sora realized he was actually hunting for it. He grimaced. "Um, Riku I went to the store today."

Riku leaned in from the kitchenette; his hair had fallen over both shoulders in his search. "I noticed we had more...stuff. Um...did you put the groceries away?"

Sora craned his neck over the couch. "It's not my fault your cabinet arrangement is so complicated. I just put things where I thought they should go."

"But you put the bread in the vegetable crisper."

"Key words being thought and should."

Riku smirked and returned to his rummaging, but Sora presumed he was rearranging. He folded his arms and huffed, deciding that he would eventually figure out the layout of the kitchen—whether or not it would be soon was a different matter entirely. Riku returned to the living room a short while later though, crossing the room slowly to sit down in the chair. He leaned back and blew out a plume of air at the ceiling.

Sora regarded him curiously. "Rough day at work?"

"No. Not really." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair a few times. "I just did a lot of thinking today, that's all."

"Really?" Sora perked up and crawled to the side of the couch nearest Riku. "What about?"

"Just what we talked about earlier."

"Oh," he rubbed his chin. "Did you come up with something?"

"Um," Riku looked a bit nervous again. "I don't really know how to put it."

"Put it the best way you can."

Riku nodded. "Well, I'm not sure I like the idea of...being afraid of what people think of me, but I guess it makes a lot of sense. It's just kind of hard to wrap my brain around."

Sora smiled. "I can understand that."

"I don't like it."

"I can understand that, too."

Riku shifted in his seat. "I guess...I guess it's just something I'm going to have to work on. It's just really weird, you know. I've always considered myself a pretty normal person. I don't want to have any idiosyncrasies, any abnormalities, anything wrong with me. I'm sure you can see why." He pulled at the ends of his hair. "I don't want to think that other people bother me because I've really been trying to get past...well, the past. I suppose forgetting about it didn't really work."

Sora nodded and chewed his lip.

"But...I know what to do now...at least, I'm pretty sure I know. I think I'm getting better."

Sora grinned; he was barely able to keep himself contained. He had worried that he had crossed a line earlier. He was pretty sure he was right, but he wasn't positive. He couldn't have known if he was completely off the mark, or if he even had the right to make such a conclusion. The last thing he wanted to do was make Riku feel even worse about himself. As it seemed though, what he did had actually helped. He wanted nothing more than Riku's closure, and he didn't quite know how to react now that he saw it coming through. Sora found himself feeling accomplished, and somehow...he felt... complete too.

"Riku," Sora said, gripping the side of the couch.

Riku looked up at him underneath his long bangs, flushing a bit as he spoke. "I had to put the raspberry cream twists under the counter this morning," his blush increased. "While I was up there...I...managed to look at a few people."

Sora didn't think it was possible for his smile to get any wider. He was so happy he actually stood up. "Riku, I don't even know what to say. I'm so proud of you."

Riku looked up at him, eyes meeting Sora's without the bounds of hesitancy or fear. Almost reflexively, as if his body was moving on a compulsion he couldn't fight, he wrapped his arms around Sora's waist, and pulled him forward into an embrace. "Thank you so much, Sora. I couldn't have done any of this without you."

XxX

Sora decided to walk Riku to work the next day anyway, even though he didn't have a particular reason to anymore. Both of them liked the company, and Sora supposed that the sacrifice of almost an hour (in total) of extra sleep was worth it.

"You know something," Sora said as he fell into step with Riku on the sidewalk. He crossed his arms behind his head as he walked, smiling softly.

Riku lifted a silver eyebrow. "What?"

"I think we should celebrate. This is pretty huge, don't you think?"

Riku stuffed his hands in his pockets, chuckling lightly. "If you really want to, sure. How should we celebrate?"

Sora tilted his chin upward. Throwing a party seemed a bit excessive, and just buying some balloons and signing a card didn't seem like enough. "Why don't we...hmm...have a celebration dinner or something?" He poked him in the shoulder. "As much as I'd like to, I don't think that having me cook is a good idea, and having you cook would completely defeat the purpose."

"Not that I would be able to find any of the ingredients in the first place."

"Shut up."

Riku snickered.

"Anyway," Sora started again, punching him in the arm for good measure. "I'll even buy, provided of course that you don't order the most expensive item on the menu."

"Is the most expensive item steak tartare, or a large fry?"

Sora grinned. "Somewhere in the middle."

Riku couldn't help but smile. It had been a while since he had eaten anything than his own cooking, and it had been even longer since he had eaten anywhere other than his own home. He supposed he would allow this little indulgence, even if he wasn't completely sure it was necessary.

"Okay." He said simply.

Sora looked thrilled. "Good. We can just go after we get home from work."

Riku nodded, already seeing the top of the coffee shop over the crest of the hill. "That's fine with me. I'll see you later, then."

Sora waved goodbye then started heading back. Riku shook his head and headed into the café.

The little bell greeted him as it did every morning. There was the same smell of roasted coffee beans, the same crowd of people seated at the tables, and the same glum looking Roxas standing up only with the aid of his broom.

But Riku didn't feel the same. He didn't feel the cloud of indifference, or lately, the dark heaviness hanging over his head. He felt lighter, refreshed, as if this whole morning experience had been rewritten; as if he had been rewritten.

He actually greeted Roxas and his boss when he walked in. He even smiled as he started prep work in the kitchen.

As he started washing his hands, he heard a small verbal exchange outside the door, but he assumed it was just the same conversation he had heard before. Since the cranberry scone incident, Roxas had been more or less drafted to the back of the house until he was satisfactorily versed in baking. The level of satisfaction was regularly debated, however, because Roxas' own standards were quite a bit lower than that of his employer. The discussion often took place just outside of the kitchen door, but up until now—because of his own internal discrepancies—he was unable to enjoy it properly. Now though, he listened to the frequent outbursts with a chuckle, and just waited for the outcome. All three of them knew Roxas was inevitably going to lose.

As if on cue, Roxas slumped through door to the kitchen. Riku looked up at him and tried his best to stifle his grin, but perhaps it wasn't working out as best he thought. Roxas regarded him with an evil eye. "What?"

"Nothing."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm rolling out—"

"I know that," he snapped, roughly sitting down on a nearby stool. He examined Riku carefully, noting that there was still a lot of prep work to be done. With a shrug he started tipping back and forth on the legs of the stool. "I meant...ugh, never mind."

Riku shrugged and continued his work, while Roxas continued to watch him carefully. There was something a wee bit...off about Riku this morning, he decided with conviction. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but the air in the kitchen seemed a bit different. He changed the direction that he was tipping the stool so he could watch better. It seemed there was a certain strangeness about Riku indeed, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. Given his current bad mood involving the results of the small war he and his boss had, his feeling of perplexity seemed aggravate him even further. He was never one for puzzles anyway. He simply didn't have the patience. "What?" He deadpanned, ignoring the fact that he had already directed that one word question at Riku once before.

"What?"

"What's with you today?"

Riku lifted a silver eyebrow. "I don't really know what you're talking about."

Roxas scowled. "Don't give me that. You look different somehow."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." He searched the counter for something sweet to pop in his mouth. To his left, he spotted half a bowl of toasted almond slivers. He supposed that would have to do for now. "Did you get a girlfriend or something?"

Riku floured the counter. "No, nothing like that."

Roxas started blushing madly. "Well, maybe you already had a girlfriend, and she finally agreed to let you—"

Riku's face immediately turned three shades of red. "No! It's not that either! Geez, I don't know how you come up with these things."

Roxas shrugged, shaking more almonds into his open hand. "Well, it has to be something. You're practically glowing this morning. I've seen something like that before. I had this friend once, who..."

Then Roxas proceeded to tell him a long story in varying detail about some friend of his' sexual misadventures. Riku glanced up and noticed that he was blushing through some of the more detailed parts, and his expression read that of someone who didn't really want to talk about it. That was perfectly fine, because he really didn't want to hear about it. Most of the story didn't make any sense, and the rest of it was made up of Roxas' own opinions about the issue. Somehow, Riku didn't think this related to him anymore.

"That's pretty much what happened," he concluded, reaching for another bowl, this time filled with pralines. "Although in my opinion, everything could have been avoided if she didn't invite them over in the first place, like I said."

Riku promptly swatted his hand with a towel. "Stop eating the ingredients. I need those."

"Everything we make here is just as good plain."

"Really?" Riku scoffed, heading to the refrigerator. "I think it's going to be a little difficult to make chocolate fudge praline-almond brownies without two of the major ingredients."

"Chocolate and—"

"Pralines and almonds!"

Roxas shrugged licking the sugar off of his digits. "Whatever. Anyway, what were we talking about again? I think it was something about in-laws, but I can't be certain."

Riku stared pointedly at him and extended his hand for the bowl.

Roxas deposited it reluctantly, but suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh that's right, we were talking about you and your sudden change in demeanor. So are you going to tell me what it is, or do I have to keep guessing?"

Riku had the urge to make sure it was Roxas he was talking to and not Sora. "No, please don't." He shrugged. "I guess I just feel different today."

"Is it safe for you to be around food?"

"I don't feel sick. I feel...good."

Roxas nodded. "Well, I have to agree. You look a little better than you have before; brighter maybe. That's good, I suppose, although it would be nice if you'd tell the rest of the class why."

At that moment, the door burst open, and the two boys' boss popped in. "Cut the chit-chat back here. I need some more brownies, Riku. Roxas, what are you doing?"

Roxas hopped off the stool and pretended to hunt for an appliance in the cabinets. "I'm helping."

"Rather, eating the ingredients like movie snacks," Riku muttered, which rewarded him a growl.

"Uh, just see that all the work gets done, okay?" With that, he disappeared behind the doors and Roxas gladly sat back up on the stool. "That was close."

"I know. You almost got caught for doing something you do everyday."

"Hey...that's not true. I...actually, that is true."

Riku slid a clean bowl beside him on the counter. "Go wash your hands. You can at least replace what you ate."

Roxas grumbled a bit, but headed off anyway.

XxX

Riku headed home that evening feeling better than he had in ages. He was surprised to find that there were things on his way home that he hadn't noticed before. He was a bit taken aback that things on the route he took everyday were actually new to him, but he was more than willing to take a mental note of them. There were some interesting items above ground-level.

When he entered the apartment, he was surprised to find that Sora was not home. Usually Sora was inside, on the couch and full before Riku even got in the building. He scratched his head and decided to tidy up a little to pass the time.

A few minutes later, the door flew open, and in bounded Sora who looked as though he had just been dangling over an active volcano. "I'm so sorry I'm late!" He screeched, slamming the door behind him and leaning against it to catch his breath. "My drawer was off by, I kid you not, seventeen cents. They wouldn't let me leave. I thought they were going to fire me."

"They probably wouldn't do that."

"You never know with those people. They're crazy. Anyway, I managed to find some change in my pocket, and there was some on the floor underneath the cabinet. I barely made it."

"Are you hungry?"

"Famished."

Riku grinned. "I'd feel bad if you had to pay for our food now, especially after this incident."

Sora waved him away. "Forget it. I said I'd pay and I am. Besides, I've got plastic." He pulled out his wallet triumphantly to add emphasis. "Let's get going."

Riku shrugged and followed him out the door, unsure if Sora even knew where they were going to go.

Sora vague idea of where he wanted to eat. Though he wasn't exactly new to the neighborhood anymore, he still had a little trouble getting around. He just assumed directional ineptness was something he was born with. He had seen a fairly nice restaurant somewhere though, and he was pretty sure he could remember where it was. He was trying his best to look like he knew where he was going, and thankfully, Riku didn't seem to notice anything different. They quickly passed the complexes, and they found themselves in the main part of town.

"I really appreciate this, Sora," Riku said as the number of people around them increased. Before, he might have had difficulty in large crowds, but now he was fairly comfortable.

"Please, this is totally worth it. Besides, I need to walk off the stress of work today."

Riku was somewhat amused. "Now what happened exactly? How is seventeen cents even close to an alarming number?"

"Riku, you don't understand," he said pointedly. "I have never ever been off by that much before. It was all because of that stupid denim jacket."

"Denim jacket?"

"Yes, some woman wanted to buy it for the sale price that we had last week, but...Oh, it's better if I explain it from the beginning."

Riku listened with even more amusement than before to Sora's rant about the trials and tribulations of retail, and some convoluted story about a denim jacket, a crying baby and stain on a pair of canvas shoes. Now he knew why Roxas liked talking to Sora. They were practically the same person.

As Sora prattled on, the street opened up into a densely populated area, complete with several eateries and other shops. They passed by a fast food stop, a club, and a bar with so many people inside that several had to sit on the sidewalk with their drinks clutched in their hands. Riku wrinkled his nose.

"Anyway, the whole situation could have been avoided if she had just taken the coupon like I suggested," he finished. Suddenly his eyes lit up. He recognized a few landmarks. "Yeah, it's just up ahead of those people." He pointed and quickened his pace. Riku followed.

Just ahead of them was a quaint little restaurant, perhaps a few square feet bigger than the café Riku worked at. There wasn't a huge crowd, but it wasn't empty. It looked decent, and Riku didn't really have any complaints, as he was being treated, and he was hungry anyway.

Sora just smiled as though he hadn't expected the building to be there. "Come on," he said excitedly, yanking Riku's arm as he pushed open the door. "I'm starving."

The hostess greeted them with a warm smile. Her long dark hair swept past her waist as she hunted for some menus in the podium. "Welcome," She adjusted her nametag with the name "Tifa" neatly printed on it. "Is it just the two of you?"

Sora nodded excitedly, and he was barely able to contain the drool from running out of his mouth. The smells that were coming from the kitchen were positively amazing.

"Okay, follow me please." She smiled again and led them to a table near the window. Above it hung a lamp with bits of colored glass and marbles made into it. "Your server will be with you shortly." With that she slid the menus down in front of them and headed off to the doorway to greet another group of guests.

"Riku, you have no idea how hungry I am."

"I have a pretty good idea."

He shrugged and flipped open the menu, scanning for nothing in particular. Every item sounded fantastic. "Riku," he groaned, "how am I supposed to pick?"

"Pick it like you do everything else: close your eyes and point."

"That's not fair. I don't...actually that's a good idea."

Moments later they were greeted with a female server. She carried the same warm smile that the hostess had. "Good evening gentlemen, I'm Aerith and I'll be your waitress." She searched the confines of her apron for a small clipboard. "Can I start you off with anything to drink?"

"Water," Riku replied.

"Lemonade."

She nodded and quickly wrote the orders down. "Alright, I'll be back in just a bit." She smiled again and headed off to the kitchen. Sora leaned on his elbow, examining the menu carefully. He frowned and closed his eyes and pointed. Opening one eye, he glanced down, and was excited to find he picked something delicious sounding. "Hey, it worked."

Riku shook his head. "You...are really weird."

"It was your suggestion."

"I know, but still. You're just a very strange person."

Sora pouted. "I am not."

"Yes, you are, but it's not a bad thing."

Aerith returned with their drinks and then she pulled out her pad and pen. "Are you ready to order gentlemen?"

Both of them relayed their orders, but Sora added two appetizers to his. Riku rolled his eyes.

"I was hungry."

Aerith nodded and clicked her pen. "Alright. I'll have all of this out to you in just a little while." She smiled and headed off to the kitchen again.

"I'm so excited!" Sora squealed, rubbing his hands together. "This is going to be delicious!"

"Uh...yeah."

The two conversed a little more until their meals were brought out to them. They briefly talked about Riku's day at work, the weather, and Sora's personal opinion about the food. The dinner was actually quite good, the two of them decided. Sora was glad he ordered the appetizers. They conversed a little bit more about the events of the day and went over a few other random items. The dinner celebration turned out to be an enjoyable experience for the both of them. Sora purposefully decided not to talk about the reason for the whole event, because he didn't want to accidentally touch on anything sensitive. The whole point was for both of them to relax a little.

After dessert, which Sora insisted they have, they exited the small restaurant, but not before leaving a generous tip.

"Thanks again, Sora." Riku said once they headed out the door, waving goodbye to Tifa. "I really appreciate it."

"Will you stop thanking me already?" Sora grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I wanted to do it. Besides, it was fun."

"Yeah."

They headed down the street, but during their stay at the restaurant, it seemed to get even more crowded. The fast food restaurant they had first passed was now completely spilling out the door mixing in with the dancers from the club one building over. Sora and Riku had to push through a large group of them in order to stay on the sidewalk. It seemed as soon as they were past that group though, another one immediately followed. This time they found themselves mixed in with the patrons of the bar.

"Geez," Sora frowned, barely dodging a particularly inebriated individual. "It sure got crowded quickly."

"It's after ten. What do you expect?"

"I guess." He stumbled forward trying not to run into a small group of women. "Let's hurry up and get home. This is nuts."

Riku nodded and picked his way through, but someone backed into him rather forcefully.

"Hey, you need to calm down!"

"Cut it out. Watch who you're talking to like that!"

Riku grimaced. It looked like a bar fight was starting and the last thing he wanted to do was get in the middle of it. He peered a bit further ahead of him and caught sight of two individuals in particular, and then he saw some raised fists. People were starting to shout and cheer, and one person threatened to call the police.

"Hey, Riku, let's go around this way." Sora tugged his sleeve and they headed towards the side of the sidewalk closest to the street.

The two fighting patrons stumbled out of the mob as one jumped on top of the other.

"Wow," Sora winced, stopping momentarily to watch. "Um...didn't expect to see that."

"I know." Riku stopped as well. The two quarreling men rolled around on the ground, punching and kicking. Apparently the person that threatened to call the police had followed through, because a few moments later, there were sirens in the distance.

The two of them didn't seem to notice though.

Riku and Sora backed up a little to get out of the way of the police cars as they drove up. A policeman brushed Sora's shoulder as he ran forward to stop the fight.

Another one followed out of the car to help his partner, and they managed to pull them apart.

"Alright," the officer said, tugging one man towards the police car. "Let's go."

Riku's mouth dropped open. "Dad?"