A/N: Alice here. Hope you all are enjoying this and again, thank you for all the lovely reviews. There will be one more chapter after this one, and then we move on to another story:D Thanks for all the support!

Sora - About a month later

"If you think I'm going to let you make music like that retarded cousin of yours, then think twice!" I rolled my eyes at my father, walking away from him while he screamed after me.

"When I said I didn't want to work for you, did I at any point include that I wanted to make music?" I turned around, leading my father to stop walking. "And stop calling Rox retarded, cause he's not." Maybe a little bit, but not in the way my father meant it. "It's my life, all right?"

"And every time we allow you to steer it, you manage to dump yourself in eight feet tall worth of horse shit!"

I stared at my father, "Yeah, see, this is why I warned you this conversation wasn't worth having as it always ends up with you insulting me. I'm going to leave before the fag jokes start." Lifting my hand when he opened his mouth to speak, I turned on my heel and marched out of his office, ignoring my mother as I rushed through the hallway to go find my bedroom.

Slamming my door shut, I let myself fall face first onto my bed once my knees hit the mattress. "I hate my life, I hate my life, I hate my life, I hate my life, I hate my-" I cut off my muttering to pull my head out of the pillow to sneeze, I sat up and shook my head, "life," I finished, slapping the pillow. "Rude much?" And then jumped when my cellphone rang.

Fishing it out, I checked the number, making sure it wasn't Roxas before picking up. "Hello?"

"Hello Sora."

I wrinkled my nose, "That voice you're using is creepy, Axel, don't do that."

"Hah, but it got you to not hang up on me, so-"

"I'm hanging up now!" I warned.

"Wait, wait, wait! Hang up and I'll tell your cousin that your parents aren't as accepting over your sexuality as you made Roxas believe them to be!"

I glared hard. "That is below the belt, Axel."

"Have I ever pretended to be a nice guy and said I was above blackmail?"

Wrinkling my nose, I shrugged, "Yeah, all right, point taken." Sighing, I flopped back on the bed. "What do you want?"

"Get your ass back in Dublin."

I sat back up. "No."

"Yes."

"No." I growled.

"Yes!" He shouted back.

"NO!" I then roared.

"Sora O-fucking-Malley, so help me god, you are returning your coward behind in the fine city called Dublin and you will apologize to that damn cousin of yours as he is driving me up the WALL with his continuous worrying over you AND, you're going to do right by that boy Riku."

I pouted, "You're really scary, Axel..."

"That won't work on me, and you know it."

I groaned, "It was worth a try!"

"I will see you soon."

"Or what?"

"I will inform Roxas of your situation."

"And what if that doesn't affect me?" I tried.

"I will come get you myself..." He growled out.

I gulped. "I'll think about it."

"Good." Click.

Riku - a week and a half more later

"Huh. That's weird." I mumbled to myself as my eyes trailed over the ceiling in the living room. I was sprawled out on the couch with my feet hanging over the armrest. "Zexion, did you know that if you tilt your head to the left and sort of close one eye, we have the mark of the 'Beast' textured into our ceiling? See, right there. '666'." It really was fascinating the crazy things that were a part of our apartment; all of which I'd been able to catalog this past month, one week and three days.

That was one week and three days longer than Axel had promised that he'd have Sora back in Dublin. And believe me, if I got my hands on that liar, I was going to shave his head. Unfortunately, Roxas had basically banned me from Pinks via various threatening voicemails, and so I'd been unable to catch said redhead. Zexion and Demyx were kind enough to keep an eye out for the brunette, but every day that passed, I felt more and more let down.

"If you stopped brooding at the ceiling for one minute!" My little brother shrieked, the frustration beyond clear in his voice. "Here," He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at the coffee table, this leading me to notice only now that he was sitting on his knees close beside me.

"Because of the serious Sora withdrawal stage you are currently stepping foot in, I decided to take it into my own hands, breaking one of my many rules as it demanded I meddle into your love life." He smacked my face. "You know how I hate that, Riku, shame on you." And then he pointed at what lay on top of the coffee table. "These are pictures I took." Frowning, I tilted my head off of the couch just high enough so I could see that they were indeed photographs. The lighting was horrible, the angles in which the portraits were taken reminding me of how a stalker may take a picture of someone.

"Single, non- emotionally unstable, trustworthy, hardworking, sweet guys I tracked down for you at the bar. I did serious background checks on them, and these twenty six have made the final batch." Waving at them, Zexion sat back, crossing his arms as he glared at me. "Pick. One. NOW!"

I let my head fall back onto the couch, but put out my hand and rubbed the top of my little brother's head affectionately. He may have been younger, but he'd always been one to look out for me. Even though his methods were slightly creepy, he was trying to help. "I really appreciate what you've done for me Zex, but I can't just forget about Sora." I thought about how I could explain it. "Would you ever be able to give up on Demyx? Even if you didn't see him for a few months? Would you forget about him?"

Zexion shoved me in exasperation, getting up on his feet, "Of course not, but Demyx and I have been together for years. You've only known Sora for..." He paused, "Not even an entire day if you count up all the separate hours you've spend with each other and combine them together."

He chuckled then, "Unless of course you want to count the years of bullying, then I suppose you've known him a little longer." He shook his head, "Riku!" He grabbed my shirt and tried to shake me, "You're a crazy person, you hear me? You drive me completely nuts with this obsession you've created over Sora! Get over it! Move on!" He started walking off, this being the way he exited a room I was in a lot this past month. "Find yourself a rebound! Go masturbate until you can't remember your own name!" His voice was fading as he stepped into his bedroom, "Something! Anything! But God!" And then the door slammed shut.

"I'm out of lotion!" I yelled back, mainly because I was older and should always get the last word.

"I shall not dignify that with an answer!" He screamed back, and I knew from that point onwards, he would shut me out until he calmed down. I stuck my tongue out in the direction of his door. Little brat. But...he was right. I did need to do something. I glanced at the clock and saw I had a few hours before Pink's opened. Axel was going to get a visit from me and if need be, I would take a peace offering to Roxas. Like, a puppy or something. Cause dammit, I couldn't take this any longer! I blinked in surprise when Zexion suddenly appeared in my line of vision again, looming over me. It usually took him way longer to get out of his room.

"Phone." He clipped out, offering me his phone. "I'm still not happy with you." He muttered out stubbornly.

"That's because you can't find any lotion either." I said snottily, before grabbing it so he couldn't smack me with it.

"I'm not beneath telling mom on you." Zexion tossed my way, giving me that glare he'd started giving me ever since he realized he could glare. It was a pout, really, but of course he didn't want to believe that. Letting him walk off, I pressed the phone to my ear, but before I could say anything, I heard...

"The eagle has landed, do you read? The eagle has landed." Axel?

I rolled my eyes, but my heart started pounding. "I am not calling him that. And this had better be about Sora and not some creepy sex game you are playing with Roxas."

"Give me some credit, I'd be way more creative if this were a sex game with Roxas." A pause, and I could practically feel him grinning through the phone. "Sora's at the bar. He spent all night, last night, setting things straight with Roxas and making my stubborn blond forgive him for taking off as he did. Right now Roxie is on cloud nine, so you're good to come around without hearing him scream 'Off with his head!'"

I scowled. "He's been in town that long and you're just telling me now? And! I'd like to point out that this took longer than you said! Like, a week! What the hell is up with that?" Despite my anger, I'd jumped up and started grabbing my keys and wallet, not caring that I was probably going to take the house phone outside.

Axel chuckled, "If I'd called you last night and triggered you butting into the moment between him and Roxas? Roxas wouldn't have ordered someone to chop your head off, he'd have done it himself. Now would you stop complaining about dates, time lines and all that and just get over here?"

"Fine. But I swear Axel, if he's gone when I get there, I'm kicking your ass." I hit the end button, not wanting to hear his comeback.

Sora

"Sora..." Chin on the bar, I peeked my eyes up at Tidus, who was looking down at me. "It looks like a train hit you." Taking the bottle of whisky he was pouring a drink from, I sat up and took a gulp before giving it back to him.

"It feels like I got hit by one." This was bad... Roxas had gotten mad at me in a way he'd never been and he'd not let me run in any way whatsoever. I'd had to sit on the couch ALL NIGHT and tell him every little thing. Torture... pure torture. And if that wasn't enough, Axel had kindly reminded me I needed to righten some stuff with another person as well.

So here I was, sitting back at Pink's bar, worrying over the fact if I'd run into Riku or not. And I knew I was going too, otherwise Roxas and Axel wouldn't have forced me to come with them tonight. One thing I was glad about though, Hayner was off on his honeymoon, Zexion and Demyx were absent tonight, and both Roxas and Axel were working the stage, meaning I could drown in my self-pity, with the exception of Tidus for company.

I think I'd tried to leave three times tonight, but Axel had given the bouncer strict orders not to let that happen, so that big guy, who's name I hadn't caught, grabbed a hold of me, tossing me over his shoulder, because let's face it, I wasn't that big, and then he'd set me back on the barstool, telling me to grow a pair and suck things up. Reaching for the whiskey bottle again as that was something that was easy to suck up, Tidus was suddenly a lot less cool when he pushed a glass of water in my hands, AGAIN, to make sure I stayed as sober as I could be.

"You're a lousy bartender." I declared.

"You give lousy tips, why would I be pleasant with you?" Groaning, I ignored him, beginning the banging of the forehead against the bar again, because that seemed like an intelligent thing to do.

I heard the sound of a barstool moving, which wouldn't have been that interesting as this was a bar, but then suddenly I heard something else. "Hello Tidus. When is Axel's next break? And believe me, it'll be his last." Shell-shocked, I froze, and then when I wanted to move, the next thing I know, I was on the ground, wondering how I'd tripped off my stool. Had Tidus slipped alcohol in my water after all?

"Sora? What the hell are you doing on the floor?" Riku's voice was shocked, then amused, with an underlying lacing of wariness. "Are you...are you all right?" I could tell he was trying not to chuckle, but I must have made a pretty amusing sight.

Propping myself up onto my elbows, I blew the hair out of my face, "I was cold... I heard rumors that it's warmer close to the earth, so..."

He gave me that soft smile of his, and gently put his hand out for me to grasp. "Liar. Come on, let me help you up." Taking it, I bit onto my bottom lip. Why wasn't he cursing me to the depths of Medusa's vagina like Roxas had last night?

"What brings you to Dublin?" Scrambling up to my feet, I remembered that he lived here. "Or here?" Again, he was the one living close by the bar. "Maybe you should talk now." Blushing, I pulled my hand free from his, and then took a small step away from him.

"Wait. Don't go, please." I could tell he wanted to take a step towards me, his hand outstretched, before he pulled back and ran it through his hair instead. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to skip out on our date. It was stupid of me."

"I think I beat you by running off to Cork..." I murmured, swallowing nervously as I looked up into his eyes. "I'm really sorry for-" Wincing, I realized I still couldn't tell him exactly how we'd once known each other out loud.

"Sora. Stop." He held up his hand and bit his lip, glancing around and glaring at our surroundings. "Look, I need to talk to you, but I'd rather not do it in the middle of the bar where everyone can hear us."

I offered him a tiny smile, "You sure I'm not in need of witnesses to protect my ability to breathe?"

The corners of his lips pulled up into a smirk. "Oh, I'm counting on it." Then he winked and offered me his hand.

Placing my hand in his automatically, I then frowned, "Wait, I'm in need of witnesses, or you're counting on the lack of them?" I asked nervously as he guided us behind the bar and through the door that led into the reserve, suddenly a ton of shelves with drinks and foods surrounding us, fridges here and there as well.

"Oh, I'm counting on the lack of them so I can do this." He pulled suddenly on my hand, bringing me crashing into his chest, his lips attached to mine in a fierce kiss. It was hard and quick, but when he pulled back he was smiling. "Missed you, Sora."

"Holy fuck..." Body completely frozen, my hands had fisted into his shirt while now I stared up at him with huge wide eyes. "My heart stopped beating."

He put his hand over my heart and rubbed. "Can't have that now. Not when I finally have you here and I can talk to you. Apparently, I've been driving Zexion crazy this past month one week and three days, and I need to get it off my chest."

I blinked, and when a smile with a blush broke out over my face, my fists loosened, fingers sliding up to his neck. "You counted..." I whispered happily, glad to find out I wasn't the only obsessed freak between the two of us.

He rolled his eyes. "Axel promised me that he'd have you back here in a month and that I wasn't allowed to do anything to interfere. He owes me a week and three days. But, first things first." He took a deep breath. "Sora, you have to know that I don't remember you from school in Cork. Really. I remember the teasing and what not, but I don't remember the faces at all. So, even if you had been one of them, I don't care. It doesn't matter. That was so long ago and it doesn't even affect me. Hasn't for years, which is why I don't remember anything." His eyes were drilling into mine, the blue-green staring so intently. "So, I accept your apology, the one you gave me over a month ago, and know that I've forgiven you a million times over."

Just breathe. Sliding my arms around his neck, I stepped close to him, pulling him against me for a hug, my face pressed against chest. "Thank you..." I said against his shirt, "I needed-" Gulping, I tightened my hold on him. "I forgave the guys that chased me, but they didn't care when they heard me. I do care. It's very important to me that you forgive me for that."

His arms tightened. "What guys that chased you? What happened?"

"Karma bit me in the ass. A couple of years after you left, I came out and, well," Pulling away from him, I quickly wiped the tears away, "they weren't too understanding. My tree climbing has marginally improved." While that was a very short version of it, I'd never actually told anyone this. Roxas aside as he'd forced it out of me last night. Axel had been able to read it off me without me saying a word to him.

"Oh, Sora." He pulled me back to his chest, his hands holding me even tighter. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you. The whole reason we moved was because my dad got a promotion here in Dublin." His hands were rubbing my back soothingly. "I'm so sorry."

I chuckled, gripping his shirt again, "You shouldn't apologize, Riku... I really deserved it." Then I frowned, "Wait, you didn't move away because of the bullying?" I'd thought...

He shook his head. "No. Although it couldn't have come at a better time. Even though I would have shot to over six feet within the next year, so the bullying would have stopped. After all, you're kind of a shrimp." His chest rumbled as he laughed.

I choked on a laugh, glad to feel the silly tears stopping. "Yeah, but it's to make sure my voice fits it, can you imagine it on a taller version of me?" I joked, licking my lips as I closed my eyes, sighed, and appreciated the feel of his hold on me.

"It would be unnatural, that's for sure." He gave another squeeze before, pulling back and using the pad of his thumb to brush the tears off my face. "Are we okay then?"

I stared at him as I analyzed the first response that had popped up to his question in my head meticulously. It being, I love you. What the fuck? "Yes, we're good." I got out, hoping to god I didn't sound off, because we were okay, good, just that that mind reply of mine was a little, well, a lot, what I did not expect.

Riku

"Yes, we're good." I sighed in relief as Sora said that, and my anger that Axel hadn't told me sooner faded away. It was all worth it as long as he was here with me. Wait.

"Sora, how long are you staying?" I didn't want him to leave, ever. But he had a whole life in Cork, and I had a whole life here in Dublin.

He shrugged, "Until my father calls and demands I get my behind back in Cork." A pause. "He probably doesn't know for sure yet that I've gone." I got the feeling then, and I'd gotten the same one from what Axel had said, that Sora's home life wasn't ideal. In fact, it was probably really horrible in ways I had no idea of. Why would he go back? Pulling back completely so I could look him in the eyes, I licked my lips. He was so adorable right now, I almost couldn't bare it.

"Sora? Can I ask you something and you promise not to run?"

"Well that depends, Riku, I have to be honest and tell you that I don't have complete control over my legs." He gave me a wary look, "What's up?"

"Would you move in with me? I...don't think you should go back to Cork and...I really don't want you to go." And now we see if I've come on completely too strong and scared the ever living shit out of him.

"What?" He shrieked, blue eyes the size of saucers. "What?" He repeated, taking a few steps away from me. "Move in?" He moved back closer to me. "Why?" One minute his arms were trying to find their way around my neck, and then the next he was sitting on the floor. "I think I need to sit down."

Okay, I did freak him out, but he wasn't running. That was what mattered. I squatted down, not too close, but I was in his line of sight. "It would be perfect. Zexion and Demyx can just move in to Demyx's completely now, and that leaves you plenty of room in my flat. And I wouldn't pressure you to, you know," I blushed. "Live with me, in that way, but you'd have your own place."

I waited a few seconds to catch my breath. "And as for why? Well, isn't it obvious?" My eyes were staring a hole into the floor. "I want you. Here. In Dublin, twenty-four seven. And not just me. Roxas looks so much happier when you're around. So, it's not just me." And I should shut up now. I could feel the urge to ramble trying to burst out of my chest.

"Riku," His hands settled on my shoulders as he stared at me, "this is insane, years in school aside, we've spent three hours, twenty three minutes and I don't know how many seconds at this point together, we haven't gone on a proper date yet! I don't know what you look like naked-" He blinked up at me, "Not that looks are the only thing that matter to me, but you know! I mean, naked both physically and personality! We barely know each other!" I saw his Adam's apple bob, and then before I could try and make him see the sense in it all, needing to take the logic out of his words, he leaned forward, pushing his mouth on mine. "Keep kissing me..." He whispered.

"Well, if you insist." I mumbled, trying not to let him win in his lip assault and at the same time trying to tell him via the lips that none of the mattered as long as he was at least here. We could get to know each other, he could stay in the other half of the apartment from me if need be, and we'd go on new dates every night. As his tongue swiped into my mouth, I figured it would be a good idea to let Zex know he was moving out.

I tried to pull away from Sora's lips after a few minutes of kissing. "Hmm, Sora. Sora!" Pushing me back onto my ass, he then practically climbed into my lap, his arms tight around my neck as he kissed me again for all he was worth, but he listened eventually, pulling back shyly, his cheeks bright red.

"Okay..." He whispered. "My father will kill you, but yes." I saw the tip of his tongue slip out as he licked his lips, looking down. "I'll live with you."

I smirked, not in the least scared of his dad. "I'd like to see your dad try. My mom would kick his ass." My fingers ran through his spikes, amazed at the softness. "And Sora? You'll get your own room and own living space. I'll take you on as many dates as you want. Just...stay."

He chuckled nervously, "Yes, that's a good idea, let's take on the challenge of, who can live apart in the same flat for the longest. I bet I have more willpower than you do."