Link and Sora had made out of these encounters a usual thing. Whenever they weren't doing homework or giving Zelda a riding lesson, they met up at that spot by the boulder and hang out. They talked about school, about life, complained about the increasing cold and homework. Sometimes Link even brought his wooden swords and the boys would practice their fighting, just for fun. Sora was having such a nice time with his other friends and Kairi as well, that he almost didn't feel Riku's more pronounced absence anymore.

Out in the distance, many curious eyes watched them closely.

"Do it now".

"No, not yet."

"The bond isn't strong enough".

Tonight was Diddy's birthday party and Sora was really excited. He and Kairi had gone to the mall to buy presents earlier, then split up on the way home. When he arrived at the Kong's house, Kairi was already there.

There were several other people chatting, music playing, pizza boxes stacked on the table and a six pack of beer.

"My uncle gave it to me as a present." Diddy had announced proudly. "Take a look! Six cans of beer! Well, actually five. He drank one himself."

The kids sat on the living room couches, seats and floor, making a circle so they could all see each other. Diddy opened a can ("Does anyone know how to open..." Splash. "Ugh, oh, never mind. I'll get the next one right. Someone help me wipe the floor, please?"), took a sip and passed it around.

Sora watched how everyone took their sips, made strange faces and then passed it to another person. It finally got to his hand. It still felt heavy.

"I think I'll pass" He said and passed the can, but the next hand wouldn't take it.

"Oh, come on, Sora."

"Just one sip"

"You'll like it."

"For my birthday"

He was about to politely decline once again, when someone snatched the can out of his hand. Kairi sat back on her seat, on the opposite side of the room, and drank deeper than anyone had until then. She coughed and then chuckled. The crowd was cheering and clapping.

"It's not so bad." She waved the can at Sora.

"Gimme that." He grabbed it with both hands and put it on his mouth. It smelled weird… and tasted horrible. It felt like drinking gas. He stick out his tongue in disgust and the others laughed. Why did people like this?

A few blocks away, another party was going on. Navi was sitting on a pool table at the backyard of Red's house, surrounded by some boys and girls - mostly boys, Link noticed-. All of them were laughing and chatting.

Link sighed and took out his phone. At that instant, it started vibrating. Isn't it awesome when that happens? It was a text… from Zelda. He opened it and frowned.

The song ended and a new, more upbeat one started. The group around Navi ran inside, past Link, and started dancing. Navi was about to climb down from the table when she saw him hurrying her way.

"What's up?" She said, lively

"Zelda just texted me." He kind of enjoyed her grimace when he pronounced the name. "Apparently there's this thing at Riku's house."

"Riku's house?" She frowned. "Did he say anything?"

"Not to me… But since she asked me to go, it must be cool with him."

She got down and started walking inside, towards the couch where a bunch of clothing was stack. She started pushing some aside. "Let me get my coat."

"Uhm…" Link placed a hand on her arm, making her stop. "She only invited me."

Navi blinked.

"Oh?" She crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow

"I just wanted you to know." He said, cautiously. He stared at her, trying to read her expression, but it was impossible. "I could always… not go. And stay here, you know, if you wanted me to".

"No, no. It's fine. That's cool. You go. I'll stay. No big deal."

"Are you sure?"

"What am I, your mother? Just go, if you feel like it.

He paused.

"Fine, then. I probably won't stay too late, though."

"Whatever, bye."

"Bye."

She watched him open the door and leave, without moving from her spot. Pffft. Zelda.

"You're not leaving so soon, are you?"

She turned around and saw the owner of the house staring down at her with his red cap, which seemed glued to his head by this point.

"Oh, no." She noticed she was still clutching at her coat. "I was just cold. But I'm not. Anymore." She dropped let it sink into the other coats and purses.

"Great. Wanna dance?"

"Ok, ok, my turn." One of the girls sitting across Sora said, holding the can. After a couple of shy rounds of 'Never have I ever', they had started taking it into a more personal level. "Never have I ever yelled 'please marry me' at a TV screen!"

They ooh'd, ahh'd and laughed as the girl pointed at Kairi with the can. She giggled and drank another sip.

"Who did you yell 'please marry me' to?"

"Only Colin O'donoghue". She said matter-of-factly. Sora's head perched up.

"Who is that?" He asked.

"The guy who plays captain Hook in Once Upon a Time."

"Oh, those gorgeous blue eyes." Sora had blue eyes…

"And his four day length beard" He rubbed at his chin. He swore he could feel some hair under there… somewhere.

"Let's play truth or dare, now." Someone suggested and everyone approved. "hmmmm Sora, truth or dare?"

"Dare." He answered straight away. He didn't want to risk dealing with the question 'who do you like'.

"I dare you to point at the girl you like right now."

Damnit.

"Wait, that doesn't count." Someone else said. "That's practically a truth"

God bless that person

"Fine then… I dare you to take a sip for every one of the letters that spell your crush's name". The girl offered him the last can of beer.

He took it and drank.

"One… two… three… four… five…" several girls started counting letters from their own names in their minds.

It didn't taste so bad anymore. It was his turn. "Tammy, truth or dare."

"Dare."

"I dare you to take off your shoes. With your mouth." Everyone started laughing, and he smirked.

The girl ran a hand trough her hair, trying to gather enough strength to complete the ridiculous task. She tried to bend over several times, but she kept laughing with everyone else and it was just impossible.

"I can't." she finally admitted.

"You know the rules, if you don't complete the task, you get assigned a worse one."

"Bring it."

Kairi spoke up first. "Alright, then. You have to go and sit on the lap of a boy you like."

"Fine, I'm not embarrassed."

"And kiss him"

"What who said that?"

"What, are you scared?"

"I'm not! I'll totally do it."

"Let's see."

She stood up and took a look around, pursing her lips. Everyone started encouraging her to go ahead. Sora turned to stare at Kairi. She was having so much fun, and he was glad. Suddenly, his view was interrupted by someone.

It took him totally and completely by surprise. Tammy sat on his lap, blushing, and pecked him on the cheek. Then she jumped up almost instantly and went back to her sit. He blinked in surprise, blushing like crazy. Everyone started yelling and laughing. Everyone except Kairi. She gave him a strange look. And he felt awesome.

The bell rang and three female heads closed in and started giggling.

"Oh my gosh, Zelda, I can't believe he came." Daisy said.

"Does he even know G's here?" Peach asked

"I don't know. Shh. I think he's here."

Riku opened the door and saw his best friend turned to leave.

"Link?"

He turned around and paced forward. "Hey, Riku. Uhm, Zelda texted me. She said I could come over, but… I was already at this thing at Red's so, I'll just…"

It felt so weird, asking him permission to come inside his house.

"No, no, it's alright. It's cool, you can come in." He left the door open and walked back to his friends. Link recognized most of the people from school - not that there were many of them -, but there was a couple of guys and girls he had never seen before. He spotted Zelda sitting on the couch with her two friends. He met her gaze, but she immediately turned away. Her friends giggled.

Ugh, he shouldn't have come. He should have stayed with Navi. He glanced over at Riku's group. He was leaning against the wall next to the speakers, where four other guys were talking. Lance and G were among them.

aafshgksrgjsrlgjrlhj

Link started walking towards them, but changed his mind and stopped at the table where the drinks were, just beside them. He got a cup and started pouring some soda into it, making his best effort not to eavesdrop their conversation. And failing.

"What honey are you taking to prom, Riku?" One of the guys asked.

"I haven't thought about it yet." He replied.

"Hurry up before all the good ones are gone".

Prom? Link hadn't even thought about prom until now. The person who had spent endless nights designing the Prom ads and pasting them all over school suddenly felt like he had failed as a human being.

"I thought you were taking the redhead." He could recognize G's voice without even looking.

"I told you I haven't thought about it."

"Afraid she'll say no?"

"Of course not."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Link felt his friend tensing as if it were happening to himself. He accidentally took a step backwards and bumped into one of the boys.

"Hey, watch it"

And got Riku's attention. He tilted his head to the side, indicating for him to follow and went into the kitchen. Riku closed the door behind him and let out a heavy breath, his expression troubled.

"What are you doing?" Link snapped at him

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I know you better than that." Riku was refusing to make eye contact.

"Look, I kind of told the guys she was totally into me. So what if it isn't true? It's not like I'm gonna make her or anything." He waited for an answer, but Link's lips didn't even twitch. "It's just prom…"

"Really? What if those guys dared you to make out with her?"

"Chill out, she's still my friend."

"Then leave her alone"

"It's just prom"

"You know how Sora feels about her." That came out a little louder than it needed be. Riku's mouth dropped. "You hadn't even thought about it, had you?"

"It's just a stupid dance."

"Whatever, do what you want". He walked towards the door, his back to his white haired friend. "Just keep in mind who your real friends are."

"We had a great time, thanks."

"See you on Monday"

Diddy closed the door and Sora and Kairi started walking away from it. After a couple of more games, she had come to him and said she wasn't feeling too well and asked him to walk her home. He had to admit, he was feeling a liiiiiittle dizzy himself.

Kairi was clutching at her own arms, staring at the floor while she walked. It was a cold night. Sora took off his jacket and put it on her shoulders. She jumped a little, he had taken her by surprise. Then she started giggling.

To Sora, it felt like flying every time she laughed.

"What?" He asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh nothing, I just had a lot of fun." She said.

He had been waiting for her to bring up that thing that happened with Tammy, but she never did. They just kept walking in silence for a while side by side.

Suddenly, she closed the distance and hugged him.

"I really like you. You know that, right?"

Sora was dead. He was sure of it. He had to be dead, he just died, that was it.

They resumed their pace and she dropped her hands. Her left hand brushed softly against his right one.

And he took it.

Butterflies took possession of his stomach as she lightly squeezed his hand. He was holding her hand… and it had nothing to do with the fact that they had drunk almost one can of beer each, he decided, or the fact that they were completely alone in the dim light street. No, he could do this anytime.

He so should have done this before…