I'm sorry this story has sort of fallen by the wayside in recent months. Alongside the fact my life is just really not going as I planned, I have issues when it comes to ending stories lol. And this story means a lot to me, so it made it all the more harder.

Thanks for all of your support and I hope you guys enjoy this last chapter.

I CAN BARELY SAY

Chapter Nineteen: Stay

"So Riku's officially off the market, then?" Selphie asked loudly from the bathroom, focusing on herself in the mirror as she put her earrings in.

"Uh, I wouldn't say that, exactly." Sora stood in the hallway in the space between the bathroom and Kairi's room, leaning against the wall, "It's the first date with whoever it is."

She poked her head out into the hall, "He didn't tell you who it was?"

"Nope." He shrugged, "He's being super secretive."

Kairi stepped out of her room and into the hallway, now donning a light purple sweater dress as she chimed in, "But he's always been that way. He won't say anything until it's serious."

"I guess." Sora admitted with a drop of his shoulders, "But still, he can't tell us?"

Kairi shrugged and Selphie went back to doing last minute touch ups on her hair, "Either way, I still wish he would have given me a chance. I think we'd be a cute couple."

"Don't you have a date tonight, Selphie?" The brunette boy gave a questioning look towards the younger girl.

She turned the bathroom light off and walked out into the hallway, "Yeah, so?"

"Lucky guy…" He mumbled in response as she walked past him.

"Oh, shut up." She rolled her eyes, stopping to turn back around when she reached the kitchen, "Are you sure you two don't want to go into town too? I feel like it'd be really boring to just sit around here."

Kairi shook her head, giving an appreciative smile, "It's okay. Sora can't stay too late since he has to leave tomorrow. I've got some champagne and we can just listen to what's going on in town on the radio, so we're set."

Selphie shrugged, "Suite yourselves. I'm probably just gonna crash at my parents' house since it's closer, but I'll see you in the morning, Kairi. And Sora, I guess I'll see you eventually?" She gave a tilt of her head.

"I should only be gone for two days at the most. The King and Master Yen Sid know I'm about to start school again." He answered, sliding off the wall and standing up straight.

She gave him a confused look but nodded, "Uh, okay. Sure. See you then." She turned around and headed for the door, calling out loudly, "Bye!"

"Bye!" Kairi called after her, watching her shut the front door.

"So you gonna take me back to school shopping?" He joked, dangling an arm over her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes, "I guess. Mainly only because I need to get a few things for myself, too; otherwise I'd just tell you go by yourself. Since you're an adult now and you're supposed to be responsible, blah blah blah. You know, the stereotypical lecture."

He dropped his arm back to his side and raised an eyebrow, "Sounds like you got one yourself recently."

"Maybe." Kairi flashed a grin and retreated into the kitchen, pulling out the aforementioned champagne.

He followed after her, calling out, "From your dad? What about?"

She shook her head, holding the bottle up, "Nothing really, just him butting into my life and complaining about how I manage my time even though I live on my own now."

Sora let out a small sigh, "About spending time with me, right?"

"A little bit, but it's not just you." She tried to ease his worries, explaining, "He honestly doesn't even like that I'm still working at the coffee shop. I originally got it as a summer job and he expected me to quit when school started up again so I could focus. But it's nice to make your own money and I like working there so I don't see a reason to quit if I can manage everything. It's not like I'm failing my classes; he's just being a pain, but I know he means well."

"He's not ready to let go yet." He crossed his arms with a small smile, "He still sees you as his little girl."

Kairi gave a roll of her eyes, "Well, I've basically been able to handle being on my own ever since leaving the islands the first time and the fact that he still can't cope with it drives me insane." She pushed the bottle towards him, "Do you have any idea how to open this without potentially killing us both or breaking something?"

He quickly shook his head and let out a laugh, "Not unless the Keyblade would work on it, but somehow I doubt that." He took it gingerly and turned towards the front door, "Uhh. We can take it outside? That might be the safest option."

"That might work." She nodded enthusiastically before leading him out, immediately wrapping her arms around herself when they stepped outside, "Brr. It's so cold!"

"Well hopefully we won't be out here for very long." Sora angled the bottle away from his body and turned his head, spinning the bottle slowly with his thumb over the cork until it eventually shot off, landing only a few feet away.

Kairi rushed after it and picked it up before holding it up to him, "Not bad!"

"Didn't even spill it!" He grinned proudly, holding it closer to his body.

"But can you pour it into a glass?" She put her hand on her hip, giving him a questioning look.

"Nope."

She laughed and held out her arms, "I'll take it from here."

He gave her the bottle and followed her back inside, slipping his shoes back off and locking the door as Kairi worked to pour the champagne.

"I'm guessing you don't want much." She said loudly from the kitchen, hunching over so that she could peek through the bar opening to where he was.

"Even if I didn't have somewhere to be tomorrow, it's gross. So yeah, just a little." He gave her another grin as he made his way to the kitchen.

She laughed, "I know, I know. But we've gotta at least make a toast—it's customary." She held out his glass, holding her own close to her chest.

He took it and raised an eyebrow, watching her curiously, "So what exactly are we toasting to? It's not even the new year yet."

"Yeah, but you said that if you were going to drink anything you needed to do it early in the night, so I'm improvising." She looked up at him with a little smirk.

"Uh, okay." Sora let out a sheepish laugh and watched her patiently.

She cleared her throat dramatically before raising her glass, "To a year of new beginnings!"

He reached out to tap his glass against hers with a loud clink before pulling it back and swallowing a sip of the champagne. Trying his best to hide his distaste, he joked, "So how long did it take you to come up with that?"

"You'd be surprised." She answered with a twirl of her glass, "I thought of a couple of other things but sometimes it's best to stick with the simple thing that pops into your head first."

"I guess so." He nodded along taking another tiny sip before making his way over to her couch and leaving his drink on the table, making sure to use a coaster, "So what'd you have planned for tonight exactly?"

Kairi shrugged as she made her way over to him, "Nothing, really. I figured since we did the crazy holiday parties for Halloween and Christmas that this one we could just relax." She gave a small smile, "I know everything ended up okay, but I also know you were pretty nervous about both of those parties. And New Year's Eve is an even bigger thing for the island, so I thought this would be for the best."

"Yeah, I'm sure we wouldn't have ended the night without someone whispering about something." He leaned his head back, "I'll be so glad when that stops—or at least dies down. I mean, it has a little bit in the past few months, but even once every few weeks is still bad enough."

"It is, and you know they know that it's a terrible thing to do because they'll only do it when you're alone." She sighed heavily, "I hate that those jerks make it so hard for you to feel at home again."

Sora sat back up and bit his lip, admitting sheepishly, "Well, that's not the only part of it… There's kind of something else too."

Her eyes blinked open, "What is it?"

"Well, uh," He hesitated and scratched his head, "I don't really want to go into too much tonight, but not knowing who these guys were that you dated is sort of awkward. Especially at things like the Halloween party or even just us walking around together, because I feel like it's only a matter of time until someone says something and I'll just be completely lost. And like, it's not even because I'm dating you now, I just feel like since we've been friends for sixteen years that not knowing chunks of your life is weird. You don't even have to go into detail about who was what to you, because I know that's personal and really not my business unless you want me to know but—just pointing them out would make me feel better, I think."

"So you just want to know their faces?" She put her glass down on the table as well, her voice a mixture of curious and suspicious.

He sighed, "Yeah, I guess. Mainly it's just because everyone on the island knows everyone so… Sometimes it literally feels like I'm the only one who doesn't know."

"I understand." She rested her hand just above his knee, smiling softly.

"Good, I really really didn't want to sound like the stereotypical paranoid boyfriend or something." He let out a small laugh.

Raising her eyebrows teasingly, she answered, "You still kind of did for a second, but you saved yourself with the last thing you said."

"Phew!" He jokingly wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and Kairi rolled her eyes and smiled, amused.

After coming to a realization, she stood up and moved past Sora's legs to switch on the radio, "Guess I should turn this on, everything's going to start soon."

"Do you think there's actually going to be a good band for once this year?" Sora joked before he paused, "Or wait, I'm guessing there was probably a good band in the years I was gone just because."

She grinned and shook her head as she sat back down next to him, "No, there wasn't. And there probably won't be again this year. I still think me, you, and Riku should have learned how to play some instruments and started our own."

"You can play piano a bit." He reminded her and she scoffed, "I'm sure people would have said the same things about us that we're saying about them, anyway."

"True." She admitted with a nod, "Well, we don't really have to listen to them anyway—it's just always nice to have a little bit of white noise in the background."

Sora shrugged reached out to his glass, taking a small sip and making another face as he answered, "Yeah, I guess so."

"I can just pour it out, you know." She gave a little laugh, "You don't have to drink it."

"I can handle one glass—just very slowly." He put it back down.

She shook her head, "Alright, if you say so." She tapped her fingers against her leg, "Do you have anything that you want to do? Any new year 's traditions I'm forgetting that you absolutely can't live without?"

Sora grinned and shook his head softly, "Nah, I think you've got everything covered. But," He put his weight onto his hand and leaned over her, lingering close to her mouth, "Since I'm about to leave again, we could do something like this."

He brushed his lips over hers and she closed her eyes, smiling against him as she raised her hand to the back of his neck. "Not a bad idea." She hummed as she threaded her fingers into his hair.

"Glad you think so." He let out a small laugh and reached upward to let his other hand lightly trace her frame, his confidence boosted.

She leaned into his touch, letting him draw her in closer until she was sitting in his lap and he reached around her back to hold her in place. Her hands moved across his back and down his arm as he departed from her lips and made his way to her neck, lingering there even as she spoke, "Sora, I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" He paused but hovered close to her, the warmth of his breath still noticeable on her skin.

Kairi let out a breath of air and tightened her grip on him, her voice shaking, "Can you stay?"

Sora pulled away and blinked, a frown taking over his expression, "Kairi, you know I can't. I can't just leave people waiting when they need help—"

"I didn't mean it like that." She interrupted, though her voice was barely audible, "I just meant… could you stay here tonight? With me?"

His lips parted in surprise, but otherwise he didn't budge, "O-oh."

Kairi blinked a few times before lowering her head and hiding her face, "I understand if you can't."

"Of course I will." Her sadness snapped him back into reality and he reached around her, hugging her as tightly as he could manage and spoke his apology against her ear, "Sorry, you just kind of threw me off guard."

She nodded against him, "It's okay." Pressing her lips against his cheek briefly, she added softly, "Thank you."

He pulled back and cupped her cheek before leaning in to kiss her once again, his thumb gently running over her skin. Their kiss dissolved into a few short pecks and Kairi pulled away again, resting her head in the crook of his neck as she continued to hold on to him.

"I have to call my mom to tell her I'm not coming home, though…" Sora realized out loud, a small cringe passing over his face, "But, uh… I think I'll wait until after I know she's asleep."

Kairi laughed, nudging her head against him as she did so, "You're twenty now, remember? You shouldn't be embarrassed."

"Like you would tell your dad if you still lived at home." He looked down at her and she smiled.

"Alright, so maybe I wouldn't." She closed her eyes and played with the ends of his hair at the base of his neck, "So just tell her you decided to stay at Riku's."

He shook his head, "She knows I'm here and that Riku's out on a date too. Lying about it would only make me look worse. This isn't like when we snuck out to the play island and told our parents we were all at each other's houses. Or Selphie's house, in your case."

She laughed again at that, "No, it's not."

Sora leaned down to kiss her forehead, pushing some of her hair out of the way, "I told you that you're always getting me into trouble."

"I guess so." Kairi admitted with a wide grin as she looked up at him, "But I hope I'm worth it."

"Most of the time." He answered with a smirk and she sent him a small glare in return, "But we've been getting into trouble together ever since we were little kids, you know. So I wouldn't have it any other way."

At that, she softened and gave a small smile before she sat up, leaning out of his arms and towards the table to grab the two glasses of champagne that had been forgotten. "To making mistakes and getting into trouble together, just like we always have." She held out his glass.

Sora took it and nodded, clinking their glasses together, "I like this one better."

"Me too." She took both of the glasses back and leaned into him again.