Whoo, chapter four!! I'm not too sure about my writing in this chapter, I suck at writing dialogue so I'm sorry if you don't like it T.T I have decided to turn this into an FFVII crossover, I can't bear to keep characters like Reno and Rude out of the plot and they just work so well with my ideas!! I hope you guys don't mind! Thanks for all the reviews I got for the last chapter, I got ten!! Hooray!
The song for this chapter is Hit the Floor by Bullet for my Valentine :)
Hope you enjoy, and please feed my review addiction XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII.

Kiss and I Will Surrender

Four

Hit the Floor

Roxas's heart played an unsteady beat which resounded around his throbbing head; his cold, swollen lips felt as though they were vaguely pulsing in synchronisation with the drum recitation in his mind, and his breath caught occasionally in his throat as his lungs struggled with the simple function of expanding and contracting. His stomach seemed to be caving in on itself, a painful aftermath of the severe winding he had received, and fire sung through the nerves on his face where Seifer had punched him. But worse than all that was the nauseating throb of his wrist, and the sickening angle it had adopted. Every time his crystal blue eyes flicked down to the limp appendage in his lap, he was abruptly forced to look away again as he dry heaved.

And he was cold. The snow was slowly soaking through his black skinny jeans, the ice seemingly surging into his bloodstream and freezing his organs from the inside. His teeth presented a constant background noise of clicking and chattering which he was unable to cease despite his best efforts, and he was fairly sure he could feel the cold sweat on his face freezing into a mask of ice, making his skin stiff and raw.

But one quick glance to the side confirmed that Sora was feeling a whole lot worse than Roxas was. The permanent marker on his forehead was all but vanquished by the blood oozing from his hairline and into his cobalt eyes. His once smooth and tanned visage was now a Picasso painting of angry red cuts and blossoming indigo bruises. The skin around his tired eyes was swollen and darkening, and the split in his lip, which was trying to knit a protective cover of skin cells over itself, kept reopening every time he coughed. Much to Roxas's alarm, these coughing fits also included a certain degree of blood being dredged up from Sora's lungs. The art student held his broken fingers close to his chest, trying to avoid anything hitting them, and his limbs trembled with the effort of holding him upright against the wall. Roxas was sure that if he could see Sora's arms, legs, stomach, chest and back, there would be more purple and black marks and blotches marring the skin there, and possibly more cuts, as Roxas was sure at least one of the guys kicking Sora had been wearing steel-capped boots.

For a few minutes, Roxas just sat there and listened to the uneven, ragged breaths of his companion. Sora seemed to be having extreme difficulty with this simple function, and the air that he expelled from his lungs often came out as an asthmatic wheeze. Roxas concentrated on his own laboured breathing, attempting to regulate it, finding that this diverted attention from the pain that was racking his body at that moment in time.

He had to do something, he knew. They couldn't just sit here forever, waiting out the storm which still whirled around them in a white, lethal dance. They needed help. Sora was on the verge of unconsciousness, and Roxas was pretty sure the boy had a concussion, from the way his pupils focused and unfocused and his head kept sagging forward. But he didn't even have the strength to reach into his pocket and get his phone out, let alone send out an S.O.S. to somebody. As the minutes ticked by, his lips quivering as his teeth chattered, Roxas let a few frustrated tears leak from the corners of his eyes, feeling them make tracks down his bruised face before freezing in place. He felt utterly useless, and his mind was overcome with the guilt of knowing that it was his fault that he and Sora were in this situation. A defeated growl slipped through his teeth, the first sound other than gasping that he had made since affirming to Sora that they were alone.

The sound of annoyance attracted his friend's attention. Half lidded, bruised eyes turned in their sockets to point roughly in the direction the growl had come from and to Roxas's amazement, a weak smile pushed the corners of Sora's mouth up. The boy looked tired; no, scratch that, he was exhausted, but like the optimistic puppy he had always been, he was dragging up his last reserves of energy to move the muscles in his face into a smile. The student's buoyancy was astounding.

"H-hey..." The sound that came from Sora's voice box was several octaves lower than usual, like he had a bad cold. "Y-you okay?"

It was a dumb question. Neither of them was 'okay' by any means. But latching onto the positive sentiment of the question, Roxas replied with an affirming "Y-yeah..." He winced regretfully as he attempted to nod as well, feeling the cartilage in his neck creaking.

They were silent then for another short interlude, having used up a lot of energy on the simple task of conversation. Again, the notion entered Roxas's brain that they needed help, and when Sora's narcolepsy threatened to raise its head in the face of his concussion, Roxas finally felt the strength to act on this idea. He reached across with his good right hand, grimacing at the pain this caused to his winded chest, and shook Sora roughly, when he saw the boy's cobalt eyes slide closed and stay that way.

"Hey! W-wake up!" he choked out, feeling the air he inhaled in order to speak freezing the very cells of his lungs. Luckily, Sora's eyes snapped open immediately, and he groaned as the realisation that he had fallen asleep again hit him. The chocolate haired boy tilted his head back to rest against the wall, his undamaged hand wiping a sheen of sweat from his forehead, smearing dirt, ink and blood in tracks across his face.

Meanwhile, Roxas had reached into his coat pocket with fumbling fingers, again wincing at the constricting pain this caused to his chest and sides. It was very possible he had broken a rib or two; Seifer had landed several full power punches to his abdomen and chest, and his whole torso throbbed from the abuse. Ignoring the pain for the moment as best he could, he withdrew a small black phone from his coat, holding it close to his face because the tears of pain swirling in his eyes, threatening to spill, were blurring his vision. He slid the phone open with his thumb, and began to scroll through his address book, wondering who would be best to call.

Not Cloud. Despite the guitarist being his brother, and probably the most appropriate person to call in such an emergency, Roxas was still very much aware of the fact that his brother had left Jackson's heavily under the influence of alcohol, and had already risked one trip on his motorcycle in his inebriated state. Roxas was not prepared to cause Cloud to take the same risk again, especially now that the weather had gotten worse.

The emergency services were also quickly rejected. As much as getting to a hospital seemed like a logical, welcoming idea to him, he knew that their injuries would lead to police questioning, and the last thing either of them needed was for Seifer to have a reason to prevent them from answering to police interrogation. And besides, Roxas was not the greatest fan of the police force himself.

His thumb hovered over the keypad as Riku's name was highlighted, but quickly continued scrolling through the names. Riku was certainly a good person to call in a crisis, and he was sober, but Roxas knew for a fact that Riku's apartment was on the other side of Midgar, in Edge, and was at least an hour away from their current position. And if he was staying with Kairi and Xion, he was even further away, their apartment being right on the far border of the city outskirts.

He reached the end of the contact list, and right at the bottom of the screen, Roxas saw his answer. Zack Fair. Of course, how had he not thought of that in the first place? Zack had gone clubbing with Angeal, not half an hour from where they were now. He had also been relatively sober when he left Jackson's, and Roxas knew that the raven haired bassist did not drink in the clubs, being there solely for the music. His mind made up, he paused and turned his head to look at Sora again, who was pinching the bridge of his nose in an effort to keep himself awake.

"I'm going to call Zack..." he rasped, and Sora inclined his head briefly, his eyes closed wearily but moving beneath their bruised lids, showing he was still awake. With that confirmation, Roxas pressed the green call button and then found the 'Loudspeaker' option, not having the energy to lift the phone to his ear, which felt like one of it piercings had been ripped out when Seifer's fist had connected.

To his relief, it didn't go to voicemail, and the sound of the ringing tone filled the echoing alleyway, which was quieter as the wind had died down ever so slightly. He was starting to get worried when the tone had sounded eight times, but then, to his incredible relief, Zack answered on the ninth ring.

"Heeeey Roxy!"

Despite their situation, both boys felt smiles tugging at their lips. The incredible enthusiasm of the older man was too infectiously optimistic to avoid, and they felt some warmth surge into their cold-gripped stomachs as the relief that Zack had answered washed over them.

And now Roxas was faced with the task of holding a lucid conversation with the man, a very daunting task considering the black dots that were starting to appear in his vision.

"Z-Zack," he croaked, wincing as he did so. Sora's head rolled to the side, showing that he was listening.

"Hey, you don't sound that good kid! Been drinking too much?" Zack joked, his voice light and bouncy. In the background, the boys could hear a deep male voice asking who Zack was talking to, and then Zack's voice replied distantly, indicating he had taken his mouth away from the mouth piece to talk to his companion.

"Very... funny..." Roxas muttered, giving one chesty cough that flecked blood on his hand. "Z-Zack... we need your help..."

"Cloud not given you enough money for a cab? Sorry man, but I'm strapped for cash myself, this one club charged us like fifteen dollars to get in, and of course even a coke here is like five dollars and I wanted a kebab earlier too and..." Zack was on the verge of entering one of his famous ramblings. Roxas cut him off before this could happen.

"It's not that Zack."

"Well then what's the problem?" Zack asked, sounding slightly exasperated, as though Roxas was being vague on purpose, when in actual fact Zack hadn't given him a chance to speak properly yet.

"S-Seifer..."

It was the right word to say. The boys heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone, and there were a few seconds of silence before Zack replied. "Where are you?! Are you alright?! What has he done?!" The urgent tone in his voice was unmasked and evident. Sora noted this, realising that Seifer was not just a bad acquaintance of Roxas's.

"Fairlawn Boulevard, I think," Roxas replied, his response a little stronger now that he knew help was on its way. "Between two apartment blocks... We can't move..."

"I'm on my way, give me fifteen minutes," Zack's voice said in a clipped fashion, his bodyguard profession emerging into his personality, and Roxas heard the rumble of an engine as Zack gunned his motorbike into roaring life. The singer pressed the 'End Call' button and his arm dropped to his side instantly, his energy drained.

Sora frowned, trying to see past the fringe of lashes which were obscuring his vision, due to the fact that he was so tired he couldn't keep his eyelids any further open than halfway. From what he could see, Roxas was hurt, but not as badly as him. He silently thanked whatever entity might be listening, that Roxas didn't have to suffer as much as he did. But in the same thought, he cursed whatever evil there might be for forcing Roxas to endure any pain at all. Someone as perfect as him shouldn't have to endure punishment like that. He didn't deserve it.

"R-Roxas," he mumbled sleepily, blinking his eyes with dramatic movements to try to keep himself awake. "About w-what Seifer said...?"

Roxas's head snapped to the side, crystalline burning eyes locking with Sora's own. "I'm sorry I got you involved," the blonde muttered, his expression angry, at himself more than the thug who had caused so much damage to the two boys. "Seifer has... a vendetta against me."

"Why?!" Sora couldn't believe that Roxas was deserving of any such treatment, he was too angelic and faultless for that. But to his disbelief and dismay, Roxas averted his gaze guiltily.

"I... hurt him once... really badly... He used to trust me, and I abused that trust. I deserved every punch he threw at me." He clenched his right fist, fighting tears. "But you didn't deserve what you got. I feel awful, if I hadn't been here then you wouldn't-"

But Sora cut him off. "If you hadn't been here, I'd still be on the ground getting kicked to death! You got them to back off Roxas! You probably saved my freaking life!"

Roxas scowled. "It doesn't change the fact that this is entirely my fault," he muttered, glaring at his knees.

Sora shivered violently. His rapid blood loss was causing him to lose body heat, and fast. "Man, didn't imagine my Friday night ending up like this..." he murmured, resting his head against the wall again. He ran his tongue over his lower lip, wincing as his saliva stung the split skin. Beside him, Roxas snorted and then winced, clutching his chest.

"Bet we look a right sight," Roxas replied, a small smile flitting across his face momentarily. He noticed Sora give another vicious shudder. "You're cold," he stated matter-of-factly.

Sora shook his head pathetically. "N-no I'm not," he stuttered, pouting and looking away. Roxas rolled his eyes and scooter closer to the boy, pressing his side up against Sora's juddering body.

"Lean on me, you can barely stay upright," Roxas muttered, his cheeks gaining a faint rosy hue as he put an arm around Sora's shaking shoulders and pulled him closer.

Sora protested weakly. "I can sit up just fine..."

"No you can't. I'm not going anywhere, so deal with it." Sora looked up into Roxas's face. Cerulean pools of crystal regarded him fiercely, adamantly, framed with a track of blood running down the side of Roxas's face. Even with a huge, blackening bruise and blood on his features, Roxas was gorgeous. Sora couldn't deny it any longer; Roxas was an attractive young man. What he didn't understand was, why was he slowly becoming infatuated with the boy? Was respect and admiration really this extreme?

He sighed and tentatively rested his head on Roxas's shoulder, feeling warm starting to return to his body as the less injured blonde pulled him close. After a few minutes of being tightly held to the singer's side, Sora's shivering subsided and his breathing evened out.

"Thanks Roxas," he murmured, his breath ghosting over Roxas's neck. The blonde felt his cheeks grow warm again, glad Sora couldn't see his face. The art student really was adorable... wait, what? This was a guy, for godssake! He had never even entertained the notion of a man being cute, and sweet and attractive and... WHAT?! Where the hell were these thoughts coming from?!

Seifer must have hit me harder than I thought... Roxas thought dimly, giving Sora a shake when he started to snore lightly.

"Nnngh, why did you wake me up?" Sora whined, and Roxas immediately pushed the image of Sora pouting like a little puppy out of his mind.

"You have a concussion. It's dangerous for you to sleep," Roxas replied stiffly.

"Why?" the chocolate haired boy replied haughtily, clearly miffed.

"I don't know why!! Everyone says its bad though, so don't fall asleep!"

"Haha, yes, tell the narcoleptic not to fall asleep."

"... Shut up."

Sora chuckled, again breathing on Roxas's neck. The blonde shifted uneasily, wondering if he should move Sora. But the student wasn't shivering anymore, and that was what Roxas had been trying to achieve... now he just had to keep the boy awake until Zack arrived. Maybe he should talk to keep Sora awake? Some blood dripped from his eyebrow into his eye then and he winced, unable to rub his eye because his good arm was wrapped around Sora.

"Damn, guess I won't be able to work for a couple of weeks," he growled angrily; he reached around Sora's head, keeping the boy close to him, and wiped the red liquid out his eye. He thought he felt Sora intake a breath when his face was pressed a little closer to Roxas's neck, but decided he must have imagined it.

"Why? Where do you work?" The question was sleepy, but at least Sora was still conscious.

"Org. 13 Studios. I'm a model there." Roxas wished he had thought of something else to talk with Sora about, he felt like he was trying to show off now.

"Whoooaaa...." Sora mumbled, evidently still a little tipsy. "Figures though, you are insanely good looking." The words had tumbled off Sora's tongue before he could stop himself, and he held his breath before his could say anything else, burying his head into the crook of Roxas's neck to avoid the blonde seeing his blush.

Roxas laughed coolly though. "Trust me; it's the worse business to get into. You can't ever have a bad hair day, and heaven forbid if you get a pimple, that's a career-ender," he said dryly, causing Sora to giggle.

"I bet it pays well though," he replied, sighing wistfully. Modelling. It fit Roxas perfectly. Of course he was a model, no other profession would do. Apart from his band landing a record deal or something.

"It does, but the money isn't regular. Zack and Cloud are living it up, well paid and regular hours..." The blonde seemed to be getting a little more strength, as he was having less difficulty talking now.

"Where do they work?"

"ShinRa Electric. They're bodyguards there. And Riku is quite well off too, he's the PA of some professor..."

"Wow, so is the band just a hobby?" Sora asked, sitting up a little more and pulling his head back so he could look at Roxas as he talked.

"Pretty much, but I'd love to get spotted," Roxas replied, a small smile on his lips. "I just... love singing... so much..."

Sora knew what he meant. Not only could he empathise, feeling exactly the same way when he painted, but when he had seen Roxas singing earlier that day, the elation and happiness had been as plain as day on the blonde's face. He lapsed into silence as he remembered that gig which seemed like days ago rather than hours, the way Roxas had thrown his entire soul into the music.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask... what Reizones mean? Your band's name?" Sora felt a lot more awake now as he posed this question, the conversation was too interesting to fall asleep on, after all, he was finding out precious information about Roxas.

"Oh, that's a short version of the name," Roxas replied, coughing briefly to the side. "We're actually called Reino de Corazones, but thought that was too long to say on stage."

"What does that mean?"

"Kingdom of Hearts."

"Wow... that's a pretty epic name..." Sora said, impressed. He was beginning to like Roxas's band more and more, the genre pretty much forgotten. He was about to ask if they had been together for long when a load roaring assaulted his ears, threatening to burst his eardrums, and through the tundra he could see on the street, a headlight gleamed. The engine of the vehicle cut, but the light remained on, and then they heard a deep, male voice.

"Roxas?! Sora?!" It was Zack.

Relief washed over them like a tidal wave as they untangled themselves, Roxas shouting "Over here!! We're here Zack!!"

They heard the crunching of snow under black boots, and then Zack appeared in the alleyway, dressed only in his leather jacket and black pants. Apparently, the cold didn't bother him at all, his toned chest on show for all to see. He caught sight of the two bloody pulps that were Roxas and Sora, Roxas trying to stand up, and ran over to them quickly.

"Oh my god, what did that bastard do to you?!" he growled, grabbing Roxas under his armpits and lifting him to his feet like he was a feather. He bent down to inspect the damage to Roxas's face, touching the large bruise gently and then pushing his bangs back to look at the cut in his hairline. Roxas wheezed and clutched his chest as he tried to stand upright. Yep, something was definitely broken there.

"I think I broke a rib," he winced, but pushed Zack away. "But Sora needs more help than me." He pointed down to the ground, where Sora wasn't even attempting to move, knowing it would be futile. Zack gasped again, his glowing eyes flaring with anger.

"That bastard!" he growled, abruptly bending down to Sora's level. He eyed the many cuts and bruises adorning Sora's body, and noted the way the boy coughed up blood with concern. "He doesn't look good at all..." With that, he hooked one arm under Sora's knees and the other over his back and hoisted him up. Sora was too tired to protest, resting his head against Zack's chest in defeat.

Roxas leaned against the wall, trying to regulate his breathing and clutching his chest. "So what now?"

Zack gave him a look which said, quite plainly, Are you stupid? "We go to Aerith's, of course," he replied, hoisting Sora up a little further into his arms, He turned around and started to march out of the alleyway, Roxas staggering after him.

"Of course, how could I not have thought of that?" Roxas muttered. He sounded sarcastic, but in truth he was kicking himself. Aerith should have been the first person he called! She lived about two blocks from here and was a nurse for god's sake! Her name was even the first in his contacts list on his phone! He kicked himself mentally for being such an idiot.

The wind had died almost completely when they emerged from the alleyway, Roxas found. The snow was still falling, thick and heavy, but instead of swirling around them, it now descended straight down towards the ground, the snowflakes soft against his sore skin. Zack's huge black motorbike rested on it's stand on the sidewalk, headlight still ablaze. Roxas watched as Zack gently placed Sora on the seat and guided him to straddle the bike, pressed up against the fuel tank. Zack then got on behind him and reached his arms around the smaller boy to grab the handle bars. His arms formed a cocoon around Sora, preventing him from falling to either side.

"Climb on Roxy," Zack said as he booted the kick-start and the bike roared to life again, the engine deafening and loud despite the thick snow that swallowed up most sounds like foam. Roxas swung his leg over the bike and settled behind Zack, wrapping his good arm around the older boy's waist and holding his wrist close to his chest. He gripped the bike with his knees, unafraid. He had ridden with Cloud enough times to know how to pillion ride.

Zack checked that Sora was still awake (he was, and he was terrified by his position), before twisting the throttle hard. The wheels spun beneath them, trying to find traction, and then suddenly the tires gripped the floor and they shot forward, both of the younger males gasping as they were lurched backwards. Zack chuckled and changed gear, pushing the bike forward, his glowing eyes seemingly able to see past the white sheets of snow that surrounded them on all sides.

"Zack, slow down!" Roxas yelled, clutching Zack's jacket tightly. Although he wouldn't admit it, he was terrified by the fact that he couldn't see the road at all, and the fact that Zack had already kicked up into fourth gear and was travelling at least sixty miles an hour wasn't helping in the slightest.

"You worry too much Roxy!" Zack shouted back, taking a corner quickly, causing Sora to whimper and shut his eyes, and Roxas to growl and tug insistently on Zack's coat.

"You're going to scare the shit out of Sora!" he called over the roar of the engine. The snow flew past his face and some flakes got caught in his hair, so he ducked his head down to bury it into Zack's back.

"We're nearly there anyways," Zack replied, shrugging, and sure enough, he started working backwards through the gears, slowing the bike down gradually, before coming to a stop outside a block of apartments.

"Let's get sleepy head inside, you go and ring the buzzer," Zack said as he killed the engine. "She probably heard us arrive anyway."

Sure enough, someone called Zack's name. They all looked up to see a slight, pretty girl with glossy brown hair leaning over a balcony, wrapped in a dressing gown. She looked like she had just woken up. "What are you doing here?" she called.

"Just get us inside Aerith!" Zack replied, lifting Sora off the bike and holding him up for Aerith to see. She gasped and then disappeared inside. Shortly after, the door clicked and Roxas pulled it open. Aerith was waiting at the top of the first flight of stairs, her green eyes full of concern.

"Roxas, are you alright??" she gasped, guiding them into her apartment. She pushed Roxas into a chair in her small but warm and homely living room, whilst Zack laid Sora down on the couch.

"It was Seifer," the raven haired man growled. "That bastard is going to pay."

Well, I ended up writing more than usual ^.^ Again, please feed my review addiction, I need my fix :D