Chances in Life

XO'MagickMoon'OX

.Chapter III. Lost ...

A/N: -sigh- I haven't gotten many reviews for this story, but I like it, and there are a few people who like it, so I'll keep posting. Thanks so much to those who reviewed! You guys are awesome!

Oh, and just so you know, I made a slight change to chapter one. Yeah, the part where Riku says he's "drowning" in Sora's eyes has been changed to:

"I seemed to have caught Sora's interest, because he was now watching me with those rich, blue eyes of his. I couldn't help but feel captured by their stare. Like I was drowning. No, not drowning—suffocating, as if I couldn't get enough air into my lungs, no matter how many breaths I took. And the scary thing was, I didn't mind."

It's significant, otherwise I wouldn't be mentioning it. It's a little symbolism I felt like throwing in ... does anyone get it? Maybe when you read Sora's thoughts on Riku's eyes in chapter five, you'll understand.

Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy!

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/Sora's POV/

I opened the door gently and slipped inside the house with Kairi behind me. We took our shoes off and left them by the doormat.

"Mom! Dad!" I called. "Home! Kairi's staying over!"

We went to go upstairs when a stern voice stopped us. "Hold it right there."

I turned to meet the piercing, blue glare of my mother. My father was standing beside her, arms folded disapprovingly.

"…" Uh-oh. This didn't look good. I timidly made my way back down the two steps I'd started to go up. Kairi came to stand behind me supportively. "Yes, Mom?"

"Where have you been?" she demanded.

"Uh … at a friend's house," I replied uneasily.

"Which friend?" Dad asked.

"Someone we met at the mall."

"Someone you met at the mall?" my mom said, her voice rising an octave.

"Uh … yes?" I winced as their twin glares intensified.

"Someone whom we don't know?" my dad said.

"…"

"Sora Tsukada!" Mom shrieked. "How could you? You know better than that!"

"How did you get there?" my dad intervened.

Oh, they weren't going to like this. "He … drove us."

"You got in a car with a stranger!" My mom was starting to get hysterical, her face red with anger.

"Mom—"

"Sora." My dad's voice was threatening. "Sora, it's nine o'clock. You've been out since late afternoon. You left the mall without our knowing. You took a ride with a stranger to his house!"

"I … I'm sorry," I tried weakly. "But Riku wasn't … he's not …" How was I supposed to explain myself without freaking them out further?

"Mr. Tsukada," Kairi stepped in, "it's my fault. I was the one that originally agreed to go with Riku—"

"But Sora went along with it," Mom interrupted, now pacing. "Sora! You are in big trouble. And Kairi, your parents will be hearing about this."

"I know, Mrs. Tsukada," Kairi said softly.

"Sora, elaborate," Dad demanded.

"Okay," I said, relieved that I'd finally get a chance to lay it all out. "On Wednesday, when we went to the mall, we met someone who worked in one of the stores—Riku. We had lunch with him that day at the food court." I paused. They were watching me warily, but they seemed to have calmed down some. This was good. "Today, he was there again. After he got off work, we went down to the arcade in the mall and played a game for a little while. Then he said he was going home to have practice with his band and asked if we wanted to come listen. He drove us over to where it was being held—that was around seven o'clock—and we were there the for the rest of the time. And then he drove us home."

My parents still looked angry, but not panicked and furious as they had been minutes before.

"Sora," Mom said, "you had us worried sick! You are not to go anywhere with someone we don't know, at least not without our knowing about it! What if something had happened to you? We would've had no idea where you were!" She paced for another moment before adding, "Make sure it doesn't happen again."

I heaved a sigh. "Right."

"And," my dad added, "you're grounded for two weeks, starting tomorrow. You go to school and come home, no where else, except work. No phone or computer, unless it's strictly school-related. Got it?"

I heaved another, heavier sigh. "Right."

"Kairi can stay the night tonight, but she has to leave tomorrow morning. Are we clear?" Mom asked, raking her fingers through her cinnamon hair.

"Yes ma'am."

"Go."

We hurried up the stairs, and I closed the door behind us once we'd gotten to my room, sinking down against it. Kairi sat on my bed, fingering something in her right hand.

"It could'a been worse," she said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, it really could'a," I said sincerely. "But, honestly … I'm seventeen, and they still treat me like I'm in sixth grade. I'm almost an adult, Kairi! Why are they so overprotective?"

Kairi shrugged. "They've just always been like that, I guess." She got up and pulled the futon mattress out from under my bed. Grabbing a pillow and blanket from my closet, she made up the futon. I opened my drawer and pulled out a nightshirt for her and my own pajamas. Throwing her the nightshirt, we quickly changed. She laid down on her makeshift bed beside mine as I flicked off the light and flopped down on my own bed, staring up at the ceiling, which was dusted blue from the moon outside my window.

After another moment or two of silence, Kairi said, "Here."

Something landed on my stomach. I looked down to see a slip of paper. "What's this?"

"Riku's phone number. He asked me to give it to you."

I rolled over to look down at Kairi, smiling appreciatively. "Thanks."

/Riku's POV/

I felt almost … oh, what was the word for it … elated? I suppose that could be it. I don't remember ever being this happy before. Sora had liked our band. He'd really liked it! Just the memory of him smiling, enjoying our music, it made me want to jump on my bed like a five-year old.

But instead, I flopped down on my bed like an eighteen-year old and sighed, a faint smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

"Hey."

I looked up to see Sephiroth standing in the doorway to my room.

"Hey," I replied.

"Great practice," he said evenly. I could tell he was working up to something, so I humored him.

"Yeah."

"Sora and Kairi seemed to enjoy it."

"Mmhm."

"Are you … interested in Sora?"

Ah, there it was. I looked back up at my ceiling. "Maybe."

"Liar."

"Okay, yes."

I could practically feel the irritation that rolled off of Seph then. "Just …" his voice was tight, "don't hurt him, Riku."

"I don't plan to."

It was obvious he didn't share in my certainty. But whatever, he could think what he wanted to. I would never hurt Sora. I couldn't wait to see him again.

I went to work again on Monday, but he didn't show. I hadn't really expected him to, though. But when Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday passed and he still hadn't dropped by the store, I began to get a little nervous. He hadn't called, either, and I'd told Kairi to give him my number. I trusted she did, but maybe Sora just didn't want to talk to me? Slowly, with each day, I could feel something inside of me breaking. I was probably overreacting, but I couldn't help it.

The weekend came, and no sign, no word, from Sora.

I stormed home Saturday afternoon and went to my room. We were having band practice in forty minutes. I grabbed my notebook and my pen and spent the next fifteen minutes or so writing my frustration away.

I tapped my pen against the blank page before the words began coming to me, as if some higher being was whispering them in my ear. But I guess it wasn't so much a 'higher being' as it was my heart.

Calling all cars, all coroners, we've got a dead one here,
And anybody else receiving this, the west coast is far from clear,
Like a time bomb, or sudden death, it's going to find you,
When you least expect, it's going to leave you,
With the emptiest feeling inside.

(Over-analyzed)

They found me face-down in the street,
On the night you left to find another place to sleep,
In rain and regret,
They said they tried everything but it was no use,
Yeah they tried everything and everyone but you.

I could feel my anger ebbing, even if just a little. Writing always helped me vent. It felt like my emotions were just flowing from my body, through my arm, into the pen, and manifesting themselves on the pages of my notebook.

Falling like stars into the ocean black we're going to disappear,
And anything left recognizable is rubbed away with fear,
We've got our hearts dipped in time release,
We've got the know-how and the elbow grease,
We've got our victim all cut up down here on the floor.

(Over and out the door)

They found me face-down in the street,
On the night you left to find another place to sleep,
In rain and regret,
They said they tried everything but it was no use,
Yeah they tried everything and everyone but you.

Sitting back, I looked down at what I'd written, satisfied. Even if no one else understood the words, they made perfect sense to me and reflected what I was feeling. Corny, I know, but it was what I did to express myself. I combed my brain for a title, and found my hand scribbling across the top of the page, seemingly of its own accord: DETHBED. No, I hadn't spelled it wrong; I wanted to spell it that way.

I checked the time. I still had about another fifteen minutes. I guess getting there early couldn't hurt. I packed up my bass, grabbed my notebook and car keys, and stepped out the front door. The night was quiet, but my mind was far from at ease, although it was a little better after writing that song. I found myself wondering if Sora would ever come to see me again. Even if he couldn't have come down to the mall, he could've called. This was what worried me the most. Maybe he hated me.

I knocked once on Leon's door before letting myself in, as per usual, and went to the garage. Leon and Yuffie were already present. As I began to set up, still silently bitching in my head over Sora's disappearing act, Tidus and Wakka walked in, followed shortly after by Sephiroth.

Soon we were all ready.

"Hey," I said, the first word I'd spoken since arriving, "I wrote a new song."

"Oh?" Tidus came over to me as I ruffled through my notebook, opening to the page. "Dethbed? You spelled it—"

"Wrong? I know, I did that on purpose."

Tidus nodded and looked over the lyrics. "Sounds good. Are we going to figure out the tune?"

"Sure."

Seph, Leon, and I grabbed chairs and gathered around Wakka's drum set. Yuffie and Tidus pushed the keyboard closer. I had my notebook and a pen in hand, guitar strap around my neck and bass resting in my lap.

"Hand it." Leon held his palm out and I gave him my notebook. He looked over the lyrics and then began fingering the frets on his guitar, already thinking a melody through in his head. He was awesome like that. "How about this?" he said. "Ten, ten, eleven, eleven, eight, eight …" He plucked the first two notes on the third string and then the next four on the fourth string. And kept going.

"Hold on, let me write it down!" I snatched my notebook off his knee and took my pen, setting up the pages so I could jot down the tabs. Leon and Seph finished creating the guitar part for the intro and then moved on to the verse. Yuffie started playing along with her keyboard and Wakka backed them up with the drums while I took note of it all. Once they'd established the beginning, I added the bass lines. The singing would come after the instrumental parts were written. Tidus would work it out and decide where Yuffie and I would sing backup.

Piece by piece, our parts came together. After the second verse, Tidus called for us to stop.

"Riku, what if we do this?" he asked. He took the pen and began writing something beneath my lyrics. Once he'd finished, I looked over what he'd done. After the second chorus, where I'd ended, he'd added:

… one but you.
… one but you.

They found me face-down in the street,
On the night you left to find another place to sleep,
In rain and regret,
They said they tried everything but it was no use,
Yeah they tried everything and everyone but you.

"I like it," I said, smiling up at Tidus. The others agreed. And the music-making continued. By the end of the night, we'd put together a pretty decent song, instrumental only so far. It still needed work, but that could all be saved for another practice. It was almost ten thirty, and I was tired.

"Hey, let's practice our one for the show next week!" Yuffie suggested.

"The World?" Tidus asked.

"Yeah."

"I second that motion," I said, raising my hand.

"All right." Tidus stepped up to his mike as we put the chairs away and rearranged ourselves to get ready.

The World was a song I'd written one day after Leon had gotten harassed by some jackasses about being gay. Not a very happy memory for any of us. People can just be so ignorant; it disgusts me. And it's not as if Leon was the only gay one. Sephiroth wasn't entirely straight, and I sure as hell wasn't entirely straight. And hey, the song didn't only apply to homosexuality, but to everything: race, gender, religion, etcetera. 'Cause when it came down to it, we were all human, right? Life was too often wasted on prejudice.

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A/N: I actually looked up the guitar tabs for that song on the Internet and had my younger brother play them for me to make sure they were right. I couldn't find the bass tabs, though … so I'll have to have my teacher figure them out for me. Yup, I play bass guitar, and my brother plays guitar and a little bass. I can't write lyrics though, otherwise I wouldn't be using other people's lyrics. Not mine, by the way! Dethbed is a song by Alkaline Trio. They rock.

Review, ye readers of this fanfiction!