Authors Note from Beyond the Grave: Okay so, Dark Blue Eyes was a year old yesterday. Which, is cause for some celebration, but also shows how pathetic I have been with the updates. Only Eight updates in a year. Yeah, that's bad even for me. Well, the good news is, I finished one of my other stories over a called Nanashi, so now all I have are three stories and two joint stories to focus on. Hopefully the updates will come a little more quicker. Note I said hopefully. I am starting to get back in the groove with this story, so I am hoping it works out. If anyone wants to read the original version of Cherry Soda Boy, head over to username Sardonic Grin- and check it out. It's a cool site for creative writing, so feel free to join the community! It's awesome, high recommended. So, without further conversation, here is Chapter Eight of Dark Blue Eyes.

Dedicated to Nikki: who I will love despite, inspite, because of, everything.

Chapter Eight

Inked

The good thing about Cid being at my school was the fact I had my own personal chauffeur now. He didn't exactly mind me using him for his car; it only meant he now had a designated driver for every time he wanted to get drunk. Whatever, the relationship worked for us- and it was better leaving Cid to his own devices. He was a terror. Plus, it meant I had my own ride home from school- meaning I would avoid that awkward conversation with my father about college life. I really didn't want to tell him that his only son was an utter failure when it came to college. Sure, my grades were immaculate- especially English- and I was well on my way to joining the school's newspaper- on my way meaning I walked past the room twelve times with the full intention of going in and joining…totally…I'll do it after the break- but I wasn't exactly Mr. Social Butterfly. In the two months of school, the only other friend I had made, besides Cid, was my roommate who was captain of the lacrosse team, and homophobic. Now, I don't mean like "oh my god, you are gay, wait here while I get my bat" kind of homophobe; just the thought of two guys kissing freaked him out beyond belief. It was probably the reason why he avoided inviting me to parties unless I was within earshot of some guy bragging about a dorm keg. It was a friendship of pity if anything.

On the subject of parties- didn't really get invited to them. Yeah, creepy gay kid who sits in the corner and broods doesn't get invited to parties. However, his straight friend who is getting on the fucking baseball team, oh yeah he gets invited. Yeah. Cid drags me along, but like I mentioned above, just to be his designated driver and watch as he drowns himself in beer.

Whatever, not like I really cared. Right? Okay, fuck it-I cared. I guess some part of me wanted to be almost as popular as Cid or my roommate, and get invited parties, or the movies, or whatever these teenagers do these days. I knew Reno got invited to a lot of parties from how his name would often be absent from my buddy list until four am. What was I? Some walking disease that no one wanted to hang out with?

"It's cause you are so cold and brooding," Cid said on the drive home, "you have this like wall up that no one can get past."

"I do not," I whined and shifted in my seat, "I am perfectly normal."

He snorted, "Sure. You know the main reason why people avoid you in our dorm?"

"Enlighten me."

"Well, one of the dorm bunnies who shares an English class with you, saw a very nasty story you were writing- that involved burning down a city, blood, guts, and random sex in the middle of it all." He threw me on of his fatherly looks- that was downplayed thanks to the smirk that stretched across his face.

"Fuck," he groaned, "that was totally misconstrued! The burning city represented their passion, and the blood was just…apart of the rabid bloody sex they were having."

"Did it also involve two guys?"

I shifted in my seat again, "Perhaps. Would that have added to my social ostracizing?"

"Possibly. Some which southern bell peers over a sexy blonde boy's shoulder to see he is writing about two guys having sex in the middle of a burning city? That's got that be traumatic."

"Let me guess then, she was a cheerleader?"

"Worse! Co-editor of the newspaper! She was the one who wrote the article about how 'non-Christian acts around school were tearing down the structure of our find learning establishment.' You were her muse. Congratulations. You pissed off God!"

I snorted, "Yeah well, wouldn't be the first time." I pulled out a cigarette from my pocket and placed it between my lips, "I guess that also goes my chance of getting on the school's paper."

"Well, the other editor isn't so much of a bitch. What's her name? Nicole or something. She is all about serious news and shit. I think she is actually moving to dismiss the southern bell from her post."

I lit the cancer stick and shot my friend a confused glance, "How the fuck do you know all this?"

"Well," he smiled, "I am rather popular."

"Yeah, but that's only cause no one knows you peed your pants until you were nine," I inhaled the death, feeling the smoke run through my body and infect me with murky blackness, before releasing it from my thin pink lips.

"Shut up," he growled, "I can't believe you know about that!"

"Well, you do say the strangest shit when you're drunk."

Cid, now tired of my witty banter, shoved in one of his CDs and hit play, "Oh shut up, Strife."

The rough tunes of The Used filled the car- and I partially knew he put on this specific band because they were rivals to my favorite band. Whatever. If he wanted to be the Bert McCracken, to my Gerard Way, I'll just have to bend him over the kitchen table later…

Oh god, that's sick even for me.

-

The normally two hour drive turned into a three and a half hour drive, so you could imagine the mood that Cid and I were in by the time we arrived to my overly decorated mansion in Staten Island, New York. However, even if our pissed off moods, we seemed to mask them once we got to my end of the island- we had to put on happy faces for our parents, right? Wouldn't want the "bad attitude" lecture five minutes after walking through the door, right? I stood in front of Cid's car, burning a hole into the new dark wood door with the stain class window, holding my black duffle bag filled with clothes and books.

"What are you going to do when you get in there?" Cid asked. He was sitting in the divers seat, his door opened, smoking a cigarette; I think he wanted to rest his legs before he continued driving…the paranoid in me would say he wanted to witness my breakdown.

"Say hi to my familiar; be bombarded by kisses and hugs. My mom will probably throw something at me for not calling her."

"And what are you going to say to Reno?" He smirked and took a drag from his cigarette.

I was stuck. I didn't think of one thing to say to that boy except cliché nonsense that probably wouldn't do either of us any good. But if I didn't get down on my knees and confess my undying love for him, what else was I going to do? Stand there awkwardly for five days. Exchanging glances of want, need, hope? Would we make small talk about school, and pretend to be interested in the false words coming from our mouths rather than how beautiful our lips would move together. I groaned. I was stuck. Hopelessly stuck.

"What don't you just tell him you love him?"

I looked at Cid slightly confused, "Isn't that like a bad chick flick?"

"Isn't it a little melodramatic playing this 'I can't love you' role, Cloud?"

My gaze fell to the dirty converse sneakers that adored my feet; he was right again, then again I have come to believe he often was when it came to me. It was scary, and I partially hated having Cid know me so well- but I guess that was the blessing and the curse of having a best friend who is aspiring to be a cop. I sighed and looked at him once more. "Maybe."

He shook his head and smiled, "You know I am right. Whatever. I better get going, I have to pick up Tifa from hell, then go to my parents. Call me over the weekend, let's see if we can bother Barrett for a few hours, yeah?"

"Sounds good," I smiled weakly.

"Good, I'll see you later."

The car started, and he flew down the street without bothering to acknowledge any other human life that would possess the streets. I looked back at the house that harbored so many different memories, I couldn't shake the feeling that I would run all the way back to school and never look back. But that would be the coward's way out- plus it was fucking freezing, no way in hell I was walking anywhere in this fucking weather. So, I took a breath, and walked up the cobblestone path that lead to my stoop. As I ascended the little stairs, the door flew open and my mother was there with a big smile on her face.

"My baby boy!" She squealed and attacked me with hugs and kisses, "Oh, I missed you so much!"

I returned the hug and smiled, "Thanks mom, I missed you too."

She pulled away and examined me, "You look thinner. Are you eating right?"

"Probably not," I smirked, "but with your cooking, when did I ever?"

She playfully glared at me before bopping me on the head, "I never cooked! Such a…I don't even know what to say. Come on, get in, it's colder than your grandmother's heart."

I laughed and walked into the warm house, that was fully decorated with paper Turkeys, leaves, and red and yellow lights. I arched an eyebrow at how my mother got into the holidays now that she was sober. It was pretty horrifying. No, seriously, she had a wooden recreation of the Thanksgiving Feast on our coffee table. But, all in all, it was pleasant to walk into a house that felt like an actual home for once- so I took it despite my mother's insanity.

"Where's dad?"

She took my duffle bag, and threw it by the stairs quite unceremoniously, "Oh he is at work right now. Working extra late so tomorrow he won't be called away during Thanksgiving Dinner like last year."

She knew the next question that pulsed against my lips, but before she had a chance to answer, the boy that had plagued my mind descended the stairs. He stopped midway, somewhat stunned that I had showed up I figured. I was stunned at how amazing he looked. No. He didn't change much. His unruly red locks were still short and wispy- falling right above his perfectly arched eyebrows. He looked leaner, with a few defined muscles poking out from a white shirt that adorned his chest. I took careful notice on how accentuated every curve of his waist. He was as beautiful as the first day I laid eyes on him.

"Well," my mom said, planting a small kiss on my cheek, "I'll start dinner and let you two catch up."

When she left, we met at the bottom of the stairs- staring as if we had seen a ghost. I stopped mere inches from his body, watching as his eyes fluttered closed when our bodies briefly touched.

"Hi," he whispered hoarsly.

"Hey," I said, cautiously caressing his arm with my fingers. "What's up?"

"….Nothing…"

We couldn't take the distance, and suddenly my arms were around his waist, pushing his lips onto mine. Reno wasted no time throwing his arms around my neck and deepening the kiss with the introduction of his expert tongue, and soft moans that traveled through his body, into mine. I can't even describe the feeling that surged through my body the moment I had him in my arms. Like a million butterflies were swirling around my stomach; knees going weak, breath becoming hot and quick. The whole temperature rising.

But he suddenly pulled away, "We should go upstairs and talk."

I nodded my head, but refused to remove my arms from his body, "Yeah, we totally should."

He smirked when he saw how eager I was to move. I just tightened my grip around him to show him my displeasure in the thought of having to let him go, even for a second. I was stupid enough to let him go the first time- I was going to do it again. But he saw that, and planted a soft kiss on my lips. "I am not going to fly away if you let go."

I scrunched my nose, "I know that!"

Reno shook his head and forcefully ripped my arms off him, bending down to retrieve my duffle bag, and grabbing my hand. He flashed me his trademark smile that I had fallen in love with all over again, and lead me up the stairs. We walked in silence, but the smiles on our faces spoke volumes, as did the hot pink blushes that painted our pale cheeks. He brought me to my room, looking at up me with those innocent green eyes.

"I hope you don't mind, but I have been sleeping in your room…It smells like you."

"I don't mind at all," I smiled and opened the door. The room was exactly how I left it. Pale blue with white carpet, and millions of posters and pictures of my favorite bands and movies literally the wall. My bed was against the wall to my left, still covered in those annoying stripped blue sheets I didn't like but matched my room. My TV was on the other side, with the radio and couch. The desk stood proudly on the wall facing me- the computer screen saver still a picture of Reno and I.

"You didn't change anything," I said, walking into the room and sitting on the bed, "every thing is the same."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want you to get pissed at me touching things." He placed the bag on the floor and shut the door, walking to me.

"Why would I get mad?"

He ran his fingers through my short blonde hair, "We didn't end on the best of terms, did we?"

My eyes wilted to the floor. "Right," I whispered, "But I really want to make that up to you. Do you forgive me?"

He smirked and pushed me onto the bed, crawling on top of me. His green eyes stared deeply into my blue orbs, as if looking to see if the soul he fell in love with was still there. "Do you forgive me?"

I nodded and silenced any further conversation with our lips together. I pushed my hands under his shirt to feel every bit of flesh I could get my fingers on, before getting impatient and ripping his shirt over his head. He smirked against my cheek and began a viciously assault on my neck; sucking and biting where he knew it felt good. I didn't care about my dignity, and moaned like a two cent whore in the back of a car. He just made me feel good all over, it was hard not to acknowledge it. But I was tired of being on the bottom and suddenly flipped him over, so I was now on top- kissing along his perfectly constructed jawline.

I pulled away so I could eat up the site of my shirtless lover, flushed and begging for me, when black writing caught my attention. I snapped my eyes to the ink that was on his chest- the date I would remember for as long as I lived. November 15th, 2005. The day I asked Reno, in such a pathetic way, to be my boyfriend. I ran my thumb over the date affectionately.

"I needed something to remember you by," he whispered, "I was destroyed after you left. This felt like the only way to mask the pain."

I looked at him sadly, "I love you, Reno, so much."

"I love you too," he grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me down so our lips were hovering only inches apart. "Now, make me yours again."