Chapter 6

After that nightmare I had I couldn't sleep. I woke up every five minutes. All I could think about was how Riku looked when he jumped. Like I gave him so much trouble, he couldn't handle it anymore. It was only then that I remembered the other part of my dream. My sister…she was dead. But for some reason I couldn't help the feeling that something wasn't right. Maybe it wasn't real. After all, it was a dream. I'd have to go ask Merlin later. I turned around so I was facing Riku. He looked so peaceful. I wondered what he was dreaming about. Probably about one of his girlfriends. I found out that he actually has a fan club here in Traverse Town. When I heard I immediately burst out laughing. The others just looked at me. Apparently I was the only one who found it funny. I looked at the alarm clock. It read 7:30.

I quickly got up and put on a shirt and jeans. I grabbed some food that Aerith was making in the kitchen and ran to Merlin's. I even avoided the heartless, which I usually don't do. When I arrived at Merlin's he was already waiting.

"I expected you" he said.

"So you know what it's about?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Oh…Well I had this dream last night…" I told him about the death of my sister but especially about Riku's death. "So what I wanna know is will Riku really die? Could it be some kind of vision?" Merlin didn't even think about it.

"No" he said. "This dream represents your biggest fear. Your fear of losing someone and that you're the cause of it all."

"But why is Riku in it then?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it is because you trust Riku most."

"Oh…well that's…interesting" 'Trust Riku? That's funny.'

"If I answered all your questions you'd better go. You don't want to be late, do you?" Merlin said.

"Late? Oh right! Aerith! I almost forgot. Bye Merlin. Thanks." I said as I ran out of his house.

I had to go shopping with Aerith. I hate shopping. I was kinda forced to go, though. I wasn't prepared for Aerith's shopping mood. It usually means she's gonna force you to buy all sorts of stuff too. Anyway, Cloud, Yuffie, Squall and Riku all had some excuse not to go. Sora was still depressed 'cause Kairi wasn't here. I was the only one without an excuse. So that's how I got myself here. Shopping, with Aerith next to me constantly picking out pink stuff. Don't get me wrong, Aerith is really nice. But when she's in her shopping mood, girls like me should stay away from her.

"Oh! This one looks nice. Let's go in here" Aerith said while pointing at, another, pink store.

The next thing I know I was dragged into the shop. Aerith tried on all kinds of pink skirts. I didn't know there were that many kinds of pink. Then she pulled out a black dress and said

"Isn't this a lovely dress?" I gave her a surprised look.

"Since when do you wear black?"

"Not for me. It's for you" she said. I laughed.

"Me? I'm not gonna wear a dress"

"Oh. Come on. Just try it on"

"No. I don't wear dresses. Ever"

"Please. Just do it for me" I groaned and took the dress from her. I tried it on. It fit perfectly. It was almost like one of those films. You know, when the ugly girl puts on a dress and puts her hair down and then suddenly she's gorgeous. I had to admit: I looked pretty. I shyly walked out of the fitting-room. Aerith stood with her back turned to me.

"Aer?" I asked a little shy. She turned around and gasped.

"Oh dear! You look beautiful!" She said excitedly. Then I noticed Cloud standing next to Aerith. His eyes widened a little.

"This is perfect for the party" Aerith said.

"Party? What party?"

"You don't know? I organized a gala night." Aerith said exclaimed. 'well at least someone's excited' I thought. "Uh…great…I guess" I said. Cloud didn't look to happy either.

"So when is it?" I asked.

"Tomorrow" Aerith said.

"Tomorrow? How come nobody told me?" I stomped away while muttering "That's just great. I don't even get the chance to prepare"

I changed into my normal clothes and decided to buy the dress since the ball was tomorrow already and I didn't feel like shopping for anything else. The way back home was silent. Well, I was. Aerith was babbling about how she thought it was strange that nobody told me and how beautiful her dress was. I wasn't fully listening. I thought about how Riku would react if he saw me in a dress. I didn't know why I cared, though. I never cared about how anyone thought about me. So why now?

"Jen?"

"Yeah?"

Aerith sighed. "Were you even listening?"

I shrugged. "Not really"

"I said that you need to pick up some things for me at the store"

"What kind of things?" I asked. She explained that she needed some stuff for the gala. But since it was dinner time (Aerith took a long time to find the 'perfect' dress) I ate something first. By the time I finished it was already dark. I was going to go to the store but Squall stopped me.

"You're not going out there alone" he said.

I frowned and sat down again. "Come on. I can take care of myself."

"Leon's right. I really don't feel comfortable with you walking alone when there are heartless roaming the streets. I think Riku should come with you" Aerith said.

"Why me? Why doesn't Leon or Cloud go with her?" Riku asked.

"What? You don't wanna come with me?" I said pretending to be hurt. He smirked.

"Oh but I do. I just didn't think you'd want me to come along. Since you're so uncomfortable around me and all" I cleared my throat and shifted around a bit in my seat. Riku was right. I was uncomfortable around him. But I also enjoyed having him around. It made me feel safe. Maybe Merlin was right. Maybe I did trust Riku the most.

"Well that's settled then" Aerith said with an amused look on her face. I grabbed some money and the list Aerith gave me and walked out the door, not bothering to see if Riku was following me. I was walking to the door to the First District when someone put its arms around my waist, again. First I thought it was Riku. Then he turned me around and I saw some guy. He had brown hair and cold green eyes.

"Hey there" He said.

"Who are you?" I asked as I tried to escape from his grasp.

"Why don't you come with me? We could get to know each other a little better and maybe… have some fun"

"There's no way I'm going with you" I kicked him in the shins. He let me go and I tried to run, but he recovered quickly and grabbed me again.

"Feisty little girl, aren't we?" he whispered. He tried to kiss me but I turned my head away.

"Let go of me! Help!" I screamed. He pinned me against the wall and pushed his lips roughly onto mine. I struggled and tried to kick him or anything to make him let me go. But he didn't stop. He moved his hands up and down my body. He backed away and started kissing my neck and collarbone. I took this chance to yell "help!" again. A little louder this time. He quickly put his hand on my mouth. I couldn't do anything. I closed my eyes.

"Nobody can hear you." He said. "We're all alone" He started lifting my shirt up. Then I heard a noise and I was released. I sank to the ground and opened my eyes. I was never happier to see Riku. From what I could see he knocked the guy out.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Y-yeah…What took you so long?" I asked trying to smile.

"I'm sorry. I had to take care of something" he said as he helped me up. "Did…anything happen?"

"No…you were just in time" I said.

"Good. Come on. Let's get you home"

I adjusted my shirt and walked next to Riku. I felt safe again.

"Why do bad things always happen to me? I swear, it's a miracle that I'm not depressed yet." I said when we got to the house. "Riku? Could you…not mention this to Aerith or any of them?" I could see that he hesitated.

"If that's what you want" I looked in his eyes. I could see he wasn't lying.

"Thanks"

"Hey guys. Where are the things Aerith told you to get?" Yuffie asked when we came in. I looked down.

"We…uh…"

"We ran into someone and by the time we were finished the stores were already closed." Riku helped me out. I shot him a thankful smile. He smiled back.

"Oh…okay" she looked a little sad.

"Um…Yuffie? Can I talk to you for a sec. in private?" I asked her. She looked up and nodded. She stood up and followed me to the next room.

"Is everything alright?" I asked. "You look a little down"

She sighed. "It's nothing"

"Come on, Yuffie. You can tell me."

"It's just…you know about my crush right?" I nodded. "Well…I don't think Squall's noticed me"

I grinned. "I think he did. You know what you should do? Ask him to dance tomorrow" I said excitedly. She grinned.

"I will if you ask Riku." My excitement disappeared immediately.

"W-what?"

"Oh come on. We all know you like him. You and Riku are the only ones that don't" Yuffie said.

"I do not like Rike. But if that's the only way to get you and Leon together, I will ask him tomorrow." I said and kind of stomped out of the room.

'How dare they think I like Riku'

'But maybe you do'

'I do not'

'Then why do you blush every time he's near and why do you like being with him?'

'Because…because we're friends. Besides he acts like a jerk most of the time and he's way

too cocky'

'Maybe that's what you like about him'

'I do not. Great, now I'm talking to my mind'

Suddenly I felt really tired. I figured Riku was already asleep so I went to 'our' room. I still found it weird that I had to sleep in the same room as him. But Aerith wanted to be with Cloud and she wanted Yuffie to be with Squall and Sora…well he just wanted to be alone with his memories about Kairi. And so I was dumped at Riku's. I walked into the room and found that Riku was already asleep, like I thought. I changed and sat down in a chair. I watched Riku for a while. He looked so handsome when he was sleeping. I was so caught up in staring at him that I didn't notice he'd opened his eyes and was looking back at me.

"Like what you see?" he smirked. I cleared my throat and stood up.

"Sorry" I said, walked to the bed and crawled under the blankets. He turned around and faced me.

"You didn't answer the question" he said.

"You know I do. Can I go to sleep now?"

Riku smirked. "Sure"

We were silent. Then I realized something.

"So…Are you gonna wear a suit tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? What about you? Did Aerith force you into wearing a dress?"

"Yeah…kinda. But I actually like my dress"

"Whoa. Jen and dresses. Never thought I'd see the day" I smiled.

"Do you think I should tell them what happened?" I asked Riku.

"I don't know. If you don't want to tell them then don't. But they'll find out eventually"

"I know. But I think I'm gonna wait a while." I grinned and rolled on top of Riku.

"So Riku…have you dated any girls from your fan-club yet?" I asked.

"I have a fan-club? I bet you joined it." I smiled.

"Of course I did. I'm your biggest fan!" I started poking his stomach.

"You do need to lose some weight. You're getting a little fat" he groaned.

"Cut it out. That tickles"

"Oh so you're a little ticklish?" I started tickling him. He laughed and tried to get me off him. And since he's way stronger than I am he rolled around so he was on top of me. He started tickling me now and I tried to get him off me. Then he stopped. My stomach hurt from all the laughing. He looked at me. I started blushing again. 'Why do I blush so much?' He leaned in until he was very close. His lips brushed against mine. Then someone knocked on the door. I quickly threw Riku off me.

"Could you be quiet? Some people are actually trying to sleep!" Cloud yelled. My heart was pounding really fast. I got up and waked to the bathroom so Riku couldn't hear my thoughts.

'Was he trying to kiss me? He was, wasn't he? But does that mean he likes me? Or is he just playing with me? I'm so confused!'

I walked to the sink and threw some water on my face. I went back to the bedroom and crawled under the blankets again. Riku was silent, I was silent and I fell asleep quickly.

Sorry about the late update. But I'll probably update another chapter this week. I hope you like this one and of course: Review!

SilverHearts