Author's Note: So here's another chapter. Next one will probably take longer, but this one's up because I wanted to post something today. Why you might ask? Because it's my birthday! Finally 18! Woot! So this is my present to all of you now that I'm officially an adult now as of August 26th. I hope you all enjoy this!

Disclaimer: don't own KH or all the awesomeness it encompasses.

Warning: boy's loving boys, denial, random run-ins, drunken partying, making friends with strangers, Demyx being clingy, and various other things. Thank you for your time, now go read :)

Chapter 2

"Oh Rooooxaaaaas, time to wake up now!" Sora yelled as he ran through the apartment to his friend's bedroom, and then jumped on the sleeping blonde. Roxas let out a loud grunt at the impact, struggled a bit with Sora sitting on top of him, and then threw the extra weight off of him as he sat up. The blonde male looked none too happy to have been woken up in such a manner and made that clear by glaring at the brunette boy before him.

"Sora, what the hell are you doing in here?" he asked through clenched teeth. It felt as if he hadn't slept at all! The little brat could at least be considerate and let him sleep a while longer if he was going to have any energy to go out with him that night. Sora pouted.

"Naminé told me I could wake you up," he explained. "We're all gonna go out for an early dinner soon and then it's off to the bar to go watch Demyx and his band. Oh, and we met his new drummer by the way. His name is Cloud and he's a really nice—"

"Sora," Roxas interrupted the rambling. Sora grinned sheepishly.

"Time to go now?" he asked.

"Time to go now," Roxas replied.

"Okay! Naminé's making you a sandwich, so get ready to go party!" Sora exclaimed as he bounded out of the room. Roxas sighed heavily. That guy had way too much energy to handle, especially when he was just waking up. He looked over to check the time. Only three o'clock. There was a lot of time before they would need to go to the bar to see Demyx. Damn. He could have slept longer, but Naminé would probably scold him for it if he had. His sleep schedule was already screwed enough because of his job as it was, so he supposed it was good that she had gotten Sora to wake him up.

He stood up, stretched and yawned, then headed for the shower. When he finished he got dressed in a simple white t-shirt with a simple black design on it and paired that with black jeans and the wristbands, rings, and necklaces he usually wore when he wasn't working. As Sora had promised, a sandwich was waiting for him out on the table with a glass of milk next to it courtesy of Naminé.

Naminé and Sora were sitting in front of the television watching some kind of Spanish soap opera (a re-run that he could afford to miss but liked to watch anyway), along with someone he hadn't expected to be there.

"Hey Leon. What's up?" he asked, taking a bite of his sandwich and then taking a seat on the floor next to Sora's feet. The feet started poking and prodding at him, so Roxas smacked them and moved over to Naminé's side of the couch she and Sora were occupying. Leon sat in a separate arm chair, leaning back and watching the soap opera with a bored expression. He looked over at Roxas when he greeted the other.

"Nothing. I see you're still working graveyard shifts," Leon said, and then returned his attention to the television. Roxas shrugged, chewing on his sandwich.

"More money. Bars definitely aren't graveyards at midnight," he replied.

"There's always someone looking to drink," Leon agreed. On the couch, Sora stretched out so that he was laying his head on Naminé's lap. She didn't notice much at his change in position, but began threading her fingers through soft brunette spikes.

"We have plenty of time before Demyx plays tonight. Was there anything you wanted to do Roxas?" the blonde woman asked her twin. He shrugged, mouth too full to answer her verbally.

"Let's get some booze and start drinking!" Sora suggested with a grin. Roxas scowled at his friend.

"It's only three and we're going to be drinking all night, anyway," he said, and then smirked. "Besides, I don't think a lightweight like you could handle all that."

Sora pouted, making Naminé giggle.

"Well we have to find something to do until then," she said.

"Oh! We need to get fireworks!" Sora sat up, excitement making him bounce at the idea. It had been a while since he had set off fireworks. Of course he would have to wait until it got darker to set any off, but it wouldn't hurt to get some now. He hadn't set any off since…well it was time to make new memories with other people now.

"Want to set them off on the roof?" Naminé asked.

"Yeah!"

"I think we have some fireworks left over in the cupboard somewhere," Roxas added.

"I thought you only had sparklers left from last year," Leon said, finally adding to the conversation. They had spent the New Years the year before with a small gathering of friends minus Sora who had needed to work that night. They set off fireworks and Sora had been disappointed that he had missed it when he went over the next day. But this year, he would set off fireworks with his friends and welcome in the New Year as well as new start at making his life better, starting with his love life.

"You know what my New Year's resolution is?" Sora asked to no one in particular and completely off topic, expecting no answer. "I'm gonna find somebody and finally have a good relationship this year. That's my New Year's resolution. To find somebody to love that loves me back!"

A short silence settled as he waited for his friends to say whether this was a good idea or not. Because he was pretty sure it wasn't, but if he didn't try to go into something like this positively it definitely will not end happily.

"That's a great resolution," Naminé said with that kind smile of hers.

"Yeah, just don't expect us to set you up with anybody," Roxas added, not looking away from the television, though Sora could see the smile he had as well. Sora looked over to Leon who stared back at him, quiet for a moment.

"Just don't do anything stupid when you find someone," he said, and then went back to watching the television with that same bored expression. Sora grinned and then jumped from the couch to the armchair, landing in Leon's lap.

"Oh Leon, you do care!" he said happily, hugging the surprised older man. Leon grunted and then proceeded to attempt to push Sora off of him. Roxas and Naminé made no attempts to help him either.

The trip to the store to get fireworks wasn't all that eventful, but it took much longer than Sora had anticipated. He now wished that Leon or Roxas at least had come with him. How he managed to get lost even after living in the city for so long, he had no clue, but it was quite clear that he was. Nothing looked familiar at all. He had the pretty explosives he had volunteered to go out and get before they all went out that night, but now he wasn't sure which way he needed to go to get back to the twins' apartment. If he could find some kind of landmark he knew, even just a familiar shop he had passed before, he would be fine!

He had tried stopping a few people that passed by for directions, but none wanted to even look at him, let alone give him the time of day. It was despairing actually. So Sora had resorted to wandering around until he found something he knew.

The crowd was thinning and before he knew it the sun was beginning to set. He had left around just before four, but as he looked at his cell to check the time, it was nearly six thirty and the sun was nearly gone. Of course, he had thought of calling Leon or one of the twins, but he didn't want to seem incapable of doing something as easy as this. He wasn't useless, and he wanted his friends to be able to depend on him to do something without needing their help. Besides, this was just getting to know a new part of the city. He was taking the scenic route.

Suddenly guitar strings strummed and plucked in a quiet melody, carrying itself gently into Sora's ears. It was wonderful, coming from an acoustic guitar it sounded like, and was barely audible above the crowd's din yet pierced through it so that Sora couldn't hear anything else. It really was a beautiful sound.

He followed it, trying to find the source. He turned the corner onto a less busy street, and there on the other side of the street between two buildings was a man in a long grey coat, dark sweater beneath, and worn out, falling apart jeans. He was strumming a guitar, acoustic like the sound implied, as people stopped short to listen to the chords and notes spilling from talented fingers. Then Sora looked up further at the man's face. His eyes were closed, but his skin was very light and he had shoulder length silver hair beneath a dark knit hat. Just that detail of his hair against the color of the hat was stunning. Even though people liked to dye their hair crazy colors these days, Sora hadn't seen too many people that dyed their hair silver, or could even pull it off. But this man…he definitely could.

Before he really knew what he was doing, Sora was on the other side of the street, stopping along with the few people crowding the performer. He stood there with them until the notes ended and the musician thanked them for listening and asked for donations to his cause. Everyone dropped something in, whether it was a few coins, or a few bills. Sora was the last to stand there. He was caught up in the man's eyes that decided to pin him down where he stood. They were aqua, a greenish color with a hint of blue. Gorgeous.

And that's when Sora had a mini melt down, as he realized he had just thought of the other man's eyes as gorgeous. Well, there was no denying that they were, but still, as a man Sora knew he should not be thinking of another man's eyes as beautiful…or gorgeous…or whatever the hell he had thought.

Meanwhile the man with the guitar raised an eyebrow at the man before him whose expressions changed very quickly and for no apparent reason before he shrugged and plucked his strings, making sure they were still in tune even in this cold weather.

Finally Sora got over his melt down and approached the man to drop some change into the guitar case by his feet. He smiled at the silver haired man, pushing away the fact that he had just freaked out over nothing.

"You play really well!" he said honestly. He admired the skill. He wished he'd had Demyx teach him when they were in high school, but he was sure it would be too late to learn now. And he would definitely never be at this man's level, no matter when he started anyway.

The man smirked at him. "Thank you." He paused. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he looked like he was trying to remember something. Sora frowned and thought back. He was pretty sure he hadn't met anyone with silver hair before. He was sure he would have remembered them if he had.

"No I don't think we've met before," Sora replied with a shake of his head. The silver haired man stared at him a little longer, hand gripping his chin in a thoughtful pose before he shrugged and went back to retuning his guitar to adjust to the cold.

"Oh well. Must have mistaken you for someone else. It happens I guess, since I meet so many people anyway," the man said nonchalantly. Then he looked at Sora again and smiled this time. "Thank you for your patronage, I hope you come back this way some time to listen again."

Sora was at a loss for words for some unknown reason. "Um, yeah. Sure," he replied with a smile of his own. And then he walked off with his fireworks in hand to the next corner, sure that he would probably never see the man again. He had seen many street performers, but they always moved around and he very rarely saw the same ones. Coincidentally, when he turned a corner not too far from the silver haired man it was a street he recognized. One that wasn't too far from the twins' apartment either.

Well…that was an ingenious stroke of luck he just had. He got to listen to a wonderful song (played by a man with beautiful eyes) and then found his way back to a place he knew. Though he didn't have much luck in general (and especially with love), he supposed the gods had forgiven him for an instant and decided he needed some pity. Perhaps, he hoped, the gods would pity him a little more and send a girl his way soon. That would be wonderful.

After setting of a few fireworks when Sora got home because it was already dark and they still had time to kill before the gig, Naminé made them some dinner to tide them over until they left. A few drinks were had between the four, and then it was time to head to the bar to see Demyx play. They got there with little trouble, and Cid greeted his employee and his friends with a round on the house, feeling generous with the New Year party feeling going around. Another band was just finishing up their set when they arrived, so they made it there just in time. After grabbing their free drinks, all four squeezed their way through the crowd to get closer to the stage.

The band took a while to get set up, but they were playing soon enough. Demyx introduced the band and advertised the Gullwing's Café as promised. And then came the blast of music that Sora and the others were so used to and enjoyed. It was familiar, even the new songs they hadn't heard before in practice. They moshed with the people around them and waved their arms (with the exception of Leon) to each song, and by the end, the air in the bar seemed a hundred times hotter than it had before the show.

"So, what'd you guys think?" Demyx asked, pouncing onto Sora after putting away the equipment safely. The other band members joined shortly after.

"It was awesome!" Sora exclaimed, turning around and hugging Demyx back.

"As expected from you, it was wonderful," Naminé added. Tifa slung an arm around the blonde girl's shoulders.

"Thanks hun. Glad you all showed up on time."

"We wouldn't miss it, you know that," Roxas said. Demyx, having just noticed the male twin squealed and launched himself onto Roxas, freeing Sora for the time being.

"And how has Roxy been?" he asked. Roxas glared at the sitar player for using the nickname and for his clingy-ness.

"I have been just fine until you jumped me," he replied with a frown. Demyx just grinned.

"Aw, c'mon. You love me. You missed me so much, you couldn't bear to be apart any longer!" he exclaimed, rubbing his cheek against his captive's. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Yeah right. Who would miss you?"

Demyx gasped, as if he couldn't handle the thought of no one missing him, and then threw himself onto Zexion, who didn't have a book in hand for once. The silver haired man caught his band leader without missing a beat, but still managed to look bored. "You miss me, right Zexy?"

"I see you every day, moron," was the simple reply. This just started a staring match once again between the two as Demyx pestered his bandmate to reveal just how much he missed him.

While everyone engaged in conversation, Roxas decided to slip back to the bar for another drink. His had gotten knocked and spilt on some unfortunate man's clothes when they entered the crowd. Cid was there to greet and serve him when he reached the bar.

"Ready for another, kid?" the old man asked as he passed him a new glass.

"Didn't even get to drink the first one. Some idiot knocked it over and it spilled," Roxas replied with a bit of annoyance. The old man laughed and clapped his shoulder.

"Don't let it happen to this one. I won't let you have a third freebie."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever old man," the twin said, but smiled anyway. It was generous enough that he had given him a second one for free.

"Oh yeah, Axel was askin' where you were. I told 'im you weren't workin' tonight. He's still here if you wanna go ask what he wanted," Cid told him suddenly. Roxas furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't know anyone with that name.

"Who's Axel?"

Cid raised an eyebrow incredulously. "You need to pay more attention to your customers Rox. Axel's the red head that comes in a lot with his blond lady friend."

Roxas hummed and Cid walked off to serve some other customers. So that was that guy's name. Why was he asking for him anyway? They didn't exactly know each other that well. He just served the guy drinks and listened to him every once in a while. He was always there when the red head came in though, so he probably just assumed that Roxas would be there to serve him drinks like always—

"Roxas," a familiar voice called from close by. He looked up and there was the red head, making his way toward the twin. Cid probably told him that Roxas was here and that's why he was coming over. He settled into the seat next to the blonde boy.

"I thought Cid said you weren't working tonight?" Axel said before throwing back a shot. Another bartender came and refilled the tiny glass. Roxas sipped on his beer as he regarded his usual customer now that he was on the same side of the bar.

"I'm not. I came with some friends to see another friend's band perform," he replied.

"Oh really? Which band?" Another shot was thrown back and refilled.

"The one that finished not too long ago."

"The one with Demyx?"

Roxas looked surprised. "You know him?"

Axel grinned and chuckled. "We went to high school together. We keep in touch once in a while. He asked me to come see him tonight."

"Yeah he asked me too." There was a lull in the conversation, and both took sips of their drinks. "So where's the blonde you're always with?"

Roxas saw the small twitch the red head gave. "We aren't on speaking terms at the moment," Axel replied with a grin, though it seemed strained. Roxas frowned a little, and then downed the rest of his drink, getting rid of his glass.

"Come on. Spend the night with me and my friends," he said, beckoning to his regular customer. Axel raised an eyebrow.

"You sure about that?" he asked. Roxas scowled and replied, "Would I ask if I wasn't?"

Axel grinned and downed his shot. "I suppose not." And with that, he left his place at the bar and followed Roxas back into the crowd. At that point, Roxas wasn't sure whether he would regret his decision or not, but he decided to give the man a chance. He seemed like he needed a distraction anyway, and wasn't that what he usually offered the red head the nights he visited the bar anyway?

As the night moved on, the group moved to another bar where a good but little known band was playing before the countdown would start, but they were now in smaller numbers. Tifa and Cloud had stayed behind, not wanting to bar hop with the rest of them, and Demyx and Zexion had drifted off to another bar further down though they all suspected the pair was heading back to one or the other's apartments to "celebrate." In any case, that left Sora, Roxas, Naminé, Leon, and their newest companion Axel.

Roxas was starting to regret having brought him along, considering how he liked to tease the blonde twin. But the others seemed to like him well enough, and the red head seemed to have relaxed compared to when they had first met up at the bar. It left a nice feeling in the pit of his stomach, though he mostly glared at Axel and staved off the affectionate hugs he was prone to around the blonde the more alcohol he consumed.

They had fun and drank, celebrating the coming of a new year with friends. Naminé managed to get Leon to dance with her, which he did reluctantly but not without having a little fun. It didn't take long for Sora to drag Roxas and Axel to the dance floor as well, and they were all lost in the crowd moved by the music.

Sora laughed, having the time of his life. He was very glad he hadn't had to miss this, and he knew he would need that day off tomorrow if he was to sleep off all the alcohol Leon was buying him. He was keeping his promise at least, not being an emotional drunk, though he wasn't quite there yet. Still, Sora felt happy. Because he was having fun and he was with his friends. His resolution may be to find someone to love, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy himself in the meantime. When it got too hot, he decided it was time for another beer courtesy of Leon.

"Ah, sorry!" he said, accidentally bumping into someone. He had nearly fallen over, alcohol making his equilibrium questionable already, but someone had taken his arm and kept him upright. When he looked up he realized that it was the person he ran into. "Sorry," he repeated louder to be heard over the music with a sheepish grin.

"No problem," said the man before him. Silver hair was tied back into a pony tail, and for a second he feared he had run into his boss Sephiroth, but the face was different. Sora's eyes widened comically.

"Ah! It's you!" he said with surprise. "You were playing guitar outside earlier!"

It really was the same man. He had the same eyes and even wore the same clothes, though the hat and coat were gone. He smiled at the brunette indulgently. "Yes. I was hoping to earn some beer money so I could celebrate right, but it seems I only got enough for two."

"Oh, well that's unfortunate. But it's better than nothing, right?" Sora said, grinning right back at the man.

"I suppose. I'll just have to make them last then," he replied. Sora nodded, and then an idea popped into his head.

"Come with me! I'll buy you a drink!" he said good naturedly. It would be on Leon's tab so technically he wouldn't be paying, but his friend would never know. Besides, he felt he should get to know this man and what better way of doing it than over a beer?

The man followed Sora back to the bar where they sat and ordered their drinks. He turned to the silver haired man and said with a slight frown, "I never got your name."

"It's Riku Hartford. And yours?" the man said.

"Sora Hikari," the brunette told him. "Nice to meet you Riku."

"Nice to meet you too Sora," Riku replied. He chuckled a little then, taking the drink the bartender passed to him. "I remember where I saw you before now."

"Huh?" Sora tilted his head, confused, also taking his drink. He remembered Riku mentioning he'd seen Sora before, but his first time meeting the silver haired man had been on the streets when he was playing guitar.

"We ran into each other at the Gullwing's Café. You were on your way out and I was on my way in," Riku explained, an amused smile on his face for some unknown reason. "I remember the spiky hair."

Sora pouted a little. "My hair's always like this. I can't help it if it wants to point in every direction."

Riku just chuckled again, a deep sound that came from his chest Sora noted, and ruffled brunette hair.

"No need to get upset. It looks good on you."

Sora could feel a faint blush rising. He'd never been given many compliments, especially from good looking people like Riku. It felt weird. "Whatever," he muttered and took a gulp of his drink.

"So Sora. Have any New Year's resolutions?" Riku asked. Sora paused, wondering if he should tell him the truth or give him general resolutions everyone always made. Lose weight, manage money better…things like that. It was kind of personal after all. Still, he found himself saying the truth against his better judgment.

"To find somebody to fall in love with that will love me back," he said before he could stop it. He saw Riku raise an eyebrow and let his head fall to the bar's wooden surface with a thunk. He peeked up at his drinking companion. "Don't laugh at me now. I know it's a stupid resolution."

Riku just smiled kindly at him, though he did laugh a little. Fortunately it wasn't a demeaning kind of laugh, more like…it was warm. Sora still thought he was laughing at him though.

"I'm not laughing at you," the silver haired man said quickly to clear Sora's suspicions. "It's just a sweet resolution. I hadn't expected it."

Sora narrowed his eyes up at Riku. "Really?"

"Yes," the other replied. He met Sora's gaze with his own, and the brunette found himself looking away from the intensity. "Resolving yourself to find real love is a good goal."

"I suppose…" A hand ruffled his hair again and so he lifted his head and huffed at the other. "My hair's messed up as it is. No need to do that!"

Riku just shrugged and downed the rest of his drink. Seeing Riku's gone, Sora looked down at his own glass still half full. He took a breath and chugged it. It was probably not the smartest move he had ever made, but he didn't want to be the only one with a drink. He glanced at his companion, but Riku was looking away at the television screen showing New York's Times Square celebration in full swing and the ball about to descend the spire and signal the start of the New Year. Then he looked back and met Sora's eyes, mischief showing through, though Sora didn't quite know why.

"Let's count down and welcome in the New Year together," he said with a smile, which the brunette returned even though the alcohol was starting to go to his head now. The band had stopped playing while everyone's attention was on any of the monitors showing the countdown. They followed and chanted with everyone else in the city the ten numbers to close the end of the year.

"Seven, six, five," Sora said along with everyone else. Riku glanced at him counting with the crowd as well. "Four, three, two, one—!"

Before the brunette had a chance to yell Happy New Year with everyone else, the words were swallowed as he found soft lips attached to his belonging to a certain man with silver hair. Sora blinked, and then the lips were gone. It wasn't a long kiss and it certainly wasn't something he had been expecting. He was a bit shocked actually. Riku just smirked.

"It's tradition to kiss someone at midnight," he explained with a shrug. Sora raised his eyebrows in disbelief and then rolled his eyes. It's not like he was going to freak out about it since he had to deal with Demyx at times, but he hadn't been expecting it. And it was tradition after all, he supposed. It's not like he had anyone else to kiss.

"You're weird," he said with a good-natured smile.

Author's Note: I hope this hasn't been going too fast for you between Riku and Sora. But there is significance in their meetings. Let me know what you think in the form of reviews my lovelies. Until next time! :D