Chapter 2: It Ends Tonight

A falling star, at least I fall alone.
I can't explain what you can't explain.
You're finding things that you didn't know

Two boys burst into the kitchen, chattering and laughing. Even though Riku had been sulking and being unbelievably emo all day, being in Sora's presence had an amazing effect on him, and he was already acting as if he'd forgotten all him problems. In fact, he did forget all his problems; for the time being, anyway.

"The fair got rained out, so I was going to come see you at work and Kairi wouldn't come with me!" Sora was telling Riku. "She said she had to go home." He explained. Riku's grandmother was sitting at the kitchen table and looked up at Sora, her expression confused.

"Work?" She asked. Sora flashed her a smile.

"Sure! I wanted to go visit Riku today!" He answered. From just behind Sora, Riku motioned desperately for Emily to leave the issue alone. She knew that Riku didn't have to work that day, but she didn't know that he's told Sora and Kairi that he did in his anger that morning. Emily started to laugh helplessly at Riku's animatedness. Sora turned around, confused, and burst out laughing as Riku's hand signals went from him actually trying to communicate with his grandmother to him just being silly and waving his arms. Grinning and blushing slightly, Riku announced that he was hungry.

"Do you want anything to eat, Sora?" He asked, rummaging through the refrigerator. Emily disappeared into the hallway, mentioning something about having to go out for a while, and that they'd be alone in the house until she got back. Sora paused thoughtfully and gasped once he got an idea. Riku still had his head stuck in the fridge, looking for something good to eat when Sora collided with him from behind, locking his arms around Riku's neck.

"Popcorn!" He cried, laughing uproariously. Riku nearly fell over backwards. Sora let go of him and stumbled sideways, catching himself on the table. Riku gave his head a shake and smirked.

"Popcorn it is. Next time, don't be so violent when you want to ask me for food." He said finally, closing the door of the refrigerator and going into the cupboard for the popcorn. Sora chuckled.

"I want to watch a movie." He stated, wandering into Riku's living room. "What movies do you have?" He called into the kitchen.

"Ummmm, they're all in the drawer next to the TV. Go look for something good to watch." Riku answered, more focused making popcorn than on what Sora was doing. There was the sound of a drawer sliding open, followed immediately by a loud crash. Riku ran into the living room, and burst out laughing. Sora had pulled the drawer out too far and it had fallen out of the chest. Sora was now sitting on the floor, buried nearly up to his chest in DVD cases, with the overturned drawer sitting a small distance away from him and a horrified look on his face. Once Riku started laughing, Sora relaxed and grinned sheepishly at him.

"Oops?" He said, shrugging and lifting the drawer, righting it and beginning to dump armfuls of cases back into the drawer.

"Put it back into the chest first, before you put all the cases back inside." Riku suggested from where he was standing at the kitchen door, keeping an eye on the popcorn. Sora looked up at him, baffled.

"Why?"

"The drawer will be way heavier to lift if it's full." Riku answered. Sora's face lit up with understanding, but it quickly passed and was replaced with a smirk.

"Well, I knew that, but I'm strong enough to be able to lift this drawer when it's full. I could do it with one hand tied behind my back!" He announced smugly. Riku grinned evilly.

"You want to be tied up? Kinky." He replied, chuckling. Sora blanched.

"RIKU! Get your mind out of the gutter!" He ordered. He stopped, lifting his nose to the air, sniffing. "And plus, I think the popcorn's done." He added. Riku walked back into the kitchen and got he the snack ready, wondering what in the world possessed him to say that. An excited shout from Sora made him forget his thoughts, and the brunette raced into the kitchen, sliding across the hardwood floor in his socks.

"Found a movie?" Riku asked amusedly as Sora waved the DVD in front of his face.

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Riku and Sora were lazing on the couch, watching the movie. Riku was sitting nestled into the corner of the couch, propping his head up on his arm, which was resting against the arm of the couch. Sora seemed to have edge closer to him over the course of the film and they were now sitting close enough to each other that Sora was almost leaning against Riku. Sora's closeness had been distracting Riku through the whole movie. He's my light. Maybe it's not so wrong of me to... feel the way I do about him, even if he doesn't feel the same way. He smiled slowly, feeling a little better. Sora jumped, apparently jostled by something happening in the movie.

"Movie too scary?" Riku asked, teasing.

"No." Sora said grumpily. Riku looked back at the television screen. A woman was walking down a darkened hallway. Creepy music floated out of the speakers. Riku rolled his eyes.

"Why do you always go for horror movies? You know you're afraid of them."

"Oh come on! The last time I watched a horror movie was before...everything happened! I'm not afraid of them now-" He retorted heatedly before gasping at the image of a ghost in the bathroom mirror in the movie. The woman screamed and Riku pushed pause, turning the TV off.

"Let's go get some real food." He suggested. Sora nodded vigorously and followed Riku out into the kitchen again, holding the half-full bowl of popcorn. Riku pulled french fries out of the freezer and got them ready to cook. Sora leaned against a counter, snacking on the popcorn quietly.

"I'm thirsty." He commented.

"Chocolate milk." Riku answered. Sora nodded and Riku started making the chocolate milk. He was being a perfectionist about it and Sora was getting impatient. Aiming carefully, Sora threw a popcorn at Riku, who turned to see Sora grinning smugly.

"Gotcha." Sora noted. Riku raised an eyebrow. Sora threw another popcorn, catching Riku in the nose. Riku glowered at him and Sora grinned. Riku realized that he had the bottle of chocolate sauce still in his hand from making the chocolate milk and grinned. Sora blinked, confused by Riku's sudden change. In one swift move, Riku stepped away from the counter and squirted the chocolate sauce at Sora, you let out a yell and tried to shield himself with his arms. Riku stopped, laughing triumphantly, until he got another good look at Sora covered in chocolate sauce. His face went suddenly red as he began to wonder what it would taste like if he were to lick it off. His eyes settled on the chocolate in the curve where Sora's neck met his shoulder and was suddenly hit with the image of him running his tongue along the trail of sauce. He let out an involuntary gasp. Sora was laughing helplessly.

"I guess I need a shower." He observed after a moment. Riku nodded and silently led the younger up the stairs to his en suite bathroom. He didn't trust himself to speak, as he wasn't sure he'd be able to control what he would say.

"I have to run to the bathroom downstairs." Riku said quietly, showing Sora into the bathroom. Sora nodded.

"Okay! Thanks for letting me use you shower!" He said, having no idea what he was putting Riku through. He closed the bathroom door and Riku started towards the door, hurrying to the other bathroom, when Sora reappeared a moment later. Riku turned around and bit his tongue upon seeing that Sora was wearing only a towel, chocolate sauce and a sheepish grin.

"W-what?" Riku asked slowly after a moment.

"I need some clothes. Mine are all chocolate-y now." He said, still oblivious to Riku's discomfort.

"Okay. I, uh, get you some...later...or something." Riku said, getting antsy. Sora smiled at him.

"Awesome! I'll go shower now." He said, wandering back into the bathroom. Riku turned on his heel and all but ran to the other bathroom.

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Riku flopped onto his bed, having just 'recovered' from Sora. The ambient sound of the water running nearly lulled him to sleep. He sighed, closing his eyes. His thoughts swirled around inside his mind, making it pulse with unpleasant pressure. He made a mental note to get Tylenol later. A certain melody came to the forefront of this thoughts. He thought carefully about it, but couldn't place a name to it. He started humming along, adding words where he knew them. Shortly after, he realized that Sora was singing in the shower, and that's what he was hearing.

"The walls start breathing, my mind's unweaving, maybe it's best you leave me alone." There was a thud as the shower turned off and the sound of the shower curtain being shuffled around. Riku let out a long sigh, letting the lyrics and the truth sink in. Maybe I should just let Sora alone... he sat up, further lyrics spilling out of his mouth involuntarily:

"A falling star, at least I fall alone..." Sora interrupted his thoughts by sticking his head out the bathroom door with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Uh, Riku? Can you get me another towel? I got chocolate all over the one that I had before..." He asked. Riku grinned, allowing himself to relax for a moment, and nodded, muttering some comment about Sora's incompetence, just loud enough for Sora to hear.

Riku returned with the towels and was sitting on the floor.

"This is getting out of hand. I know he's my light but... I'm not supposed to like him. Not like this." He said to himself. He lay back on the floor, spreading his arms out as far as they could go and stretching. "So, I need someone to straighten me out." He chuckled in spite of himself at his own pun. He sat up, looking thoughtful. "Maybe I could get myself a girlfriend." He wondered. Sora knocked against the door.

"Who are you talking to?" He asked. Riku's eyes went wide when he realized that Sora could hear him.

"Nobody. Are you eavesdropping on me?" He asked in reply, trying to sound like he was teasing.

"Nah, I couldn't understand any of it. Were you telling secrets?"

"There's nobody here to tell secrets to. I was talking to myself." Riku answered, getting up and sitting on his bed. There was a long pause, and the he heard Sora's musical laugh.

"You're crazy."

"So are you."

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Ya, alright, this chapter's short too. But they'll get longer! I'm not used to going by a premade plan, and if I keep going on this chapter, the next one's going to be like 2 pages. Gah! Oh well! Smaller chapters means more updates, so whatever. Review please!