Ballad

by skinnedkneedmisfit

All Namine wanted was a cover band for her wedding. All Roxas wanted was to make his fiancee happy. All Axel wanted was to be heard.

16. B-Side: Neilhouse

In the dull light of the moon, Riku crept through the exotic bushes lined outside the Seaside Acres apartment complex. The super had rules against little punk rockers sneaking around late at night and 'disturbing the peace.' Axel's super was a stone-cold bitch ever since he changed the stupid sign to say 'Seasick Aches.'

"Heheh…"

There was a stone wall that blocked the perimeter of the complex, and it was just about a foot wide and perfect for scaling. Riku hopped on and balanced haphazardly, walking down as the wall gradually started to get taller. The fifth window from the start of the second complex was a little worse for wear. There were a bunch of dings and chips on the pane and one of the windows was brand new from the last time Riku decided it was time to get together.

A chestnut tree loomed heavy overhead, and Riku took advantage by plucking a few that were big enough and gathering them up in his shirt. "Axel!" he whispered loudly, taking one of the chestnuts in hand and throwing it at the window. He missed completely, but his second shot managed to hit the decorative shutters close by. "Hey, Axe, wake up!" Another hit got the window dead-on, but after waiting a minute, his friend never showed. "Wake the fuck up, douchebag!" Normally Axel wouldn't be asleep right now, but he just came home from a long day of surfing and that was usually enough to knock him out cold. He threw all the chestnuts at the window at once just as the curtain flew open and the sash slid left.

"Ow! Shit!" came Axel's coarse whisper. Now that he had his curtain open, the light from his room poured out onto Riku, and it was much brighter than the moonlight so it made him wince. Once his eyes settled, he realized that Axel had most definitely been awake. He was currently setting bleach in his hair.

"Again? Your hair's going to fall out."

Axel was not amused. "What do you want?"

"Band meeting."

"What? No. I stopped by for one minute to pick up my paycheck today and you wrangled me into talking for three hours about your precious boyfriend. I'm denying you the right to bring the rest of the guys down with you. We'll do a band meeting tomorrow, like usual."

"No. Not tomorrow. We have to talk and we have to practice and it has to be perfect."

"Go to sleep."

"C'mon!"

"Riku, I'm going to sit on the rim of my bathtub for another fifteen minutes and let this stuff set. If you're still here when I get back I'm calling the super."

"But she's creepy…"

"I'm leaving."

"But c'mon."

Axel walked away from the window, leaving it open but shutting the curtain to make sure that the punk was dutifully ignored. Getting tired of standing, Riku decided to test his aim while sitting on the wall. In seventeen minutes he was able to get twenty-three chestnuts through before Axel poked his head out again. His hair was almost a white as Riku's hair was.

"What the fuck, Riku? Go home." Axel reached inside his apartment and picked up a handful of chestnuts, flinging them at Riku.

"I've already got Marly onboard and you know Xig and Lux never do jack shit on Friday nights. Let's just get together tonight and chill out and, I dunno, practice a song or two. There's a new song I wanna try out." He stood, trying carefully to keep his balance.

"New- haha, new song. Fucking serious? We have a set in," he paused to lean his head inside to check his bedside clock, "like, twenty hours and you're springing new material on us now?" Perhaps he was overreacting, if only to get his point across, but their band was a group of perfectionists and it would take more than a day for any of them to be satisfied with a song before showing it to an audience.

"It's a really cool song. And-and I think it could use some good, y'know, screaming or something." He started bouncing on the balls of his feet, and Axel raised a brow, poised and ready to head on another chestnut assault. But when Riku bounced, it usually meant that he was on the verge of something wicked.

"…Let me dye my hair black."

"No."

"Can I wear eyeliner?"

"No."

"Corpse paint?"

"C'mon."

"Fine," Axel sighed, deciding that his hair could wait to be dyed again. They needed a really good song to one-up Bloodfest after the catastrophe that occurred last week. "Get the guys together at your place and I'll be there later."

~o~

"We really need to pay somebody to do this for us," Xigbar grunted as Luxord rolled a Hot Rod amp out of the van and delicately into the guitarist's waiting arms. Caught in the middle of a yawn, he almost dropped the equipment on the sidewalk below.

"Careful with that," Luxord growled.

"Hey guys." Axel walked up and simultaneously flicked a cigarette into the gutter. "Where's Riku?"

Xigbar started wheeling the amp into the pizza parlor as Luxord leapt from the van and shut the back doors. "As soon as we got here he scampered off. I guess down the block to Pansies to pick up Marly." He paused for a moment to look at Axel's bright green hair. When he saw it last night, it was simply bleached. "Hmm… Not your color, mate."

The bizarre man smirked and started humming a tune. "My hair was blue, but now it's green, I like her mind, she hates the scene…"

"Guys! Help me out!" Xigbar commanded from the steps that led up to the pizzeria entrance. Axel and Luxord each rushed over to help grab a corner and heave the weighty amp inside towards the stage. Luckily inside there were ramps down into the pit and up to the stage, so the two left Xigbar to wheel the amp into place while they set up the microphones and plugged everything in.

"So how much sleep did y'all get after last night's 'emergency practice'?" Axel asked as he adjusted the mic stand to Riku's height the way the front man liked it. "I think I woke up a good fifteen minutes ago."

Luxord had walked over to Xigbar and smiled broadly. "What?" the lead guitarist asked the blonde bassist defensively. Luxord only carried this look for one reason and one reason only.

"You put five down on the one-to-three odds that he wouldn't dye his hair for the show. Another five down on the one-to-seven odds that if he did dye his hair it would be purple. You owe me ten bucks."

"It's a total crock of shit," Xigbar seethed. "He already dyed it green before at the second show of summer season in Bastion, why would he dye it green again?"

"With envy? I don't give a shit, but I owe Rinoa ten for timing and Yuffie twenty for color. It's time to collect." Xigbar rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, paying his bookie with a wadded up five and some ones. Luxord counted the money and had to squeeze one more dollar of dimes, nickels, and pennies out of him. "Thank you very much," he said with a grin as he stuffed the money into his back pocket. "If you're interested I've got odds on what kind of pizza Yuffie will give us after the show, what color shirt Riku will wear, and what Seifer will say when he stops by to heckle us while we're onstage."

Xigbar wasn't in the mood to hear more bets he would probably lose. He frowned and turned to Axel. "Dickface! Go out and find Riku. We have sound check in five."

Axel frowned at the nickname, but chose not to investigate what spurred it as he hopped off the stage and walked out of the pizza parlor. Small amounts of the usual crowd were starting to show up, and he could hear them whispering rumors about 13 Hearts playing a brand-new song. It wasn't like Riku to be this late, but it was totally in Marluxia's drama king behavior to arrive at the very last excruciating second. Perhaps some of Marly's procrastination was rubbing off on their dear lead singer. It was nice that Pansies was only a block away. While Axel crossed the street to the side that the flower shop was on, he spotted a familiar pink-haired drummer fretting and sprinting his way down the street.

"Mars?"

The man didn't stop, but only slowed down to a brisk jog as he turned and acknowledged the person who called out to him. He nearly tripped over his shoelaces when he noticed it was Axel. "Green?"

"What?"

"Nothing… Nothing," he sighed, adding under his breath, "Now I'm out ten bucks…"

"Where's Riku?" Axel asked, sort of upset that he only finished half his task. The drummer shrugged and rolled his bright blue eyes towards the setting sky.

"Hell if I know. I'm so used to him picking me up before Saturday night sets that I forgot what time it was when he never showed." He growled slightly to himself and pulled back the sleeve of his shirt so he could see his watch. The poor guy was still wearing his bright pink Pansies apron. "Listen, I gotta get to Kisaragi's and change outta my work clothes. Find Riku, 'kay?"

"Find Riku… Okay," Axel sighed and Marluxia turned and ran the rest of the way to the pizza parlor. It was easy to find Marluxia on the harbor because he was always at Pansies before the show, but the whole town was Riku's playground. This wasn't going to be easy.

After peeking into the flower shop and asking Marluxia's coworker, Zexion, if Riku had stopped by, he continued in a moderately desperate search down the boardwalk for any sign of the bleached-hair kid. Amidst the growing noise of the tourists coming out for the harbor's nightlife, Axel was starting to feel the oncoming signs of panic. Where was Riku and why wasn't he at the set yet? Did something happen? Every clop a shoe made as they walked down the wooden sidewalk seemed to help spur the erratic beating of his worried heart. He could handle Riku wandering around the harbor by himself but nothing ever stood between him and a set. The sound culminated into an electronic shrill as his cell phone set off on its loudest setting.

"Riku?"

"Chillax, he's here," came Luxord's deep, calm voice. "Hurry your ass up. Our set started five minutes ago and Seifer's already heckling." Axel sighed, relieved that Riku finally showed up, but cursed that now he was the one who was late. He snapped his cell phone shut and sprinted back to the pizza parlor.

By the time he arrived, the rest of the band was already onstage with their instruments at hand. He felt completely useless and totally unprofessional as he rushed the stage and quickly strapped on his red Fender. The crowd of tourists, patrons, and friends all laughed at how late he was, and Axel couldn't help but direct a very pointedly angry glare at his white-haired friend.

Before he could even ask what made Riku so late to their set, he paused and realized that Riku was smiling. He didn't seem psyched up or a little nervous like he was before his shows at all, but the only things on his face were a soft, wistful grin and big goo-goo eyes. Those eyes seemed to be directed to someone in the audience when his mouth would open and shadow words across the room. And it didn't take a rocket scientist notice what was going on. Riku's new little guy pal Sora and his buddies were sitting on one of the tables that outlined the pit area. He was probably late because of him.

"Riku, what the fuck? We need to get started now," Axel sighed, finishing up the last minute tuning on his guitar that he would have done earlier had he not been out looking for his friend. "Where's the setlist?"

Riku blinked when he realized he was just asked a question. He tore his eyes away from Sora, which looked like it took a lot of effort on his part, and turned to Axel. "…Setlist?"

"You did make one, right? After all that work we did practicing last night you at least knew which of those songs we were actually going to play tonight, right?" the green-haired man asked, his fiery mood getting the best of him. He didn't like how Riku's sea-blue eyes widened slightly and looked down, and how his lips had to pucker with thought. "Riku…"

"Nah, nah, s'okay. I got it," he muttered, waving his friend off. They had never performed without a setlist before. It was one of those things Riku was very adamant about. All bands performed with setlists. The man made a pointing gesture towards his bleached-white hair. "It's all up here. We're starting with 'In This Night', okay?"

"But you play acoustic in that one. We didn't bring your-"

"It's okay, just improvise."

Improvise?

Riku turned to the rest of the band who were standing a few feet behind them and explained a basic game plan for the night. Axel chanced a look at Sora and his friends who were eating and drinking happily at their table. Every once in a while the brunet would sneak a peek onstage and see if Riku was looking his way. The meaning behind the first song choice didn't escape Axel's judgment at all. 'In This Night' was one of 13 Hearts' few love songs.

~o~

"This is so exciting," Sora said, bouncing in his seat. Finally he would be able to hear Riku's band perform. His friends were being fairly mellow about the occasion and just sat back enjoying their food.

Sora hadn't seen Riku since their 'date' a few nights ago. He would be lying if he said he didn't miss him. When Tidus and Wakka wanted to go to the video store to return some of the movies they had rented, Sora made sure to stay behind. While he was sure he knew that there was definitely something about Riku his heart couldn't ignore, it was his brain that was continuously trying to hold him back. Every phone call with Kairi added weight to the scale. He couldn't just ignore these feelings, though.

"Sora!" The brunet turned around and saw Demyx waving and walking towards their table. He took the empty chair that was left over and turned it around to straddle it. "'Sup, brah? It's not like you to while away at a table."

"I just ate," Sora replied with a laugh. "Isn't there a limit to how soon you mosh after food?"

"Woah, wait," Tidus interjected. "You're not thinking about going down there again are you? Not after what happened last week…"

"C'mon, I was really hammered," Sora tried to reason.

"Yeah, I totally heard all about that from Riku," Demyx said with a grin. "Something about you moshing shitfaced during a Bloodfest show. That's pretty wicked." The punk held his fist out and Sora knuckled it with a laugh. "You're like a local legend now. 'The Kid Who Dissed Seifer.' But no, really brah, it was about time someone put him in his place."

"We don't really want to encourage him, ya?" Wakka tried to reason, giving Demyx the same deadpan gaze that Tidus was giving him. It became obvious to the punk that they didn't want him around. Even though in high school Demyx was good at keeping Sora's little delinquency streak a secret, his personality always seemed to clash with Tidus and Wakka.

"Oh, no, I read you loud and clear fellas," Demyx assured, giving a thumbs-up. He stood back up and patted Sora on the back. "Enjoy the show, dude. They're pretty amazing."

A ringing sound from the speakers and a few warm-up chords from Xigbar signified the start of the show. "Hey everyone!" Riku said towards the audience, but Sora blushed when he noticed that Riku was only looking at him. "We're 13 Hearts, and this is a love song."

It started with Marluxia playing an upbeat tempo on the drums with Luxord accentuating a faster beat. Xigbar stepped on his pedal and both he and Axel kicked in with a high pitched melody that blended together amazingly.

"You're the greatest thing since sliced bread
I wonder what goes on in that head.
You're too cool for high school,
So why not come to my place instead?
Please don't pretend that you don't understand,
Because baby you're the apple of my eye,
So don't you dare say goodbye.
Out of all the stars to fill the night,
Baby yours is bright.
I love you more than you'll ever know
So come on don't leave me out in the cold.
I should have known better…
But I couldn't let her…
Go home without a fight!
So come on let me be yours tonight!"

Xigbar started a solo between lyrics. Riku encouraged the audience to clap their hands to the beat. Sora joined in with everyone else from his seat above the pit. With all of the lights focused on the band now, he doubted that Riku could even see him anymore, but he would still glance Sora's direction and smile just a little extra wider.

"I'll rock your world if you'll just say
That you'll stick around for the rest of the day.
We'll go skating at the park
Get some ice cream after dark.
We'll talk on the phone for hours
And in your notebook you'll write I'm yours.
We'll never know what hit us
Like a freight train when we met on the morning bus.
You're lying next to me in the morning light!
I never thought it could feel this right!
So come on let me be yours tonight…"

The audience applauded the ending of the song and Riku turned to the rest of the band and applauded towards them as well. "Great work. I told you it wouldn't be that hard. Now we're going to do 'Wildflower.' Mars, can you count us down?"

Marluxia tapped his stick on the rim of his snare and started off the next song with a heavy drum solo. It seemed like they were working their way out of pop music and into something more grungy. Sora smiled and leaned against the railing, looking at the mass response of the crowd as they started to get restless after the first song and began jumping around to the beat.

"Regardless of feelings, we gotta do this right.
No time for first goodbyes or last hellos tonight.
I can feel the anger, but it doesn't suit you.
I can feel the danger, and I can only stay true.
So come on! Into the void, let's destroy anything!"

This song was definitely heavier than the one before. After the chorus the kids in the pit started to rush against each other and form waves of bodies. Axel and Xigbar would scream into their backup mics, and Riku started to really pick up his voice and let it all out.

"Let me hear you scream!
Let me hear you moan!
Let me see you trash the room
Be yourself, you're not alone-!
It's time for the last dance,
We may never get another chance!
So hold onto me
And you will see
This is how it was meant to be
Because lately-
You don't…"

The extent of the song hit its peak. Marluxia stopped drumming and all the guitarists covered their strings. Riku started singing a capella and in a higher pitch than before. After a few lines Axel's guitar carried in a more morose version of the chorus and led the song out.

"…But this doesn't suit you.
And you'll never know,
I'll just continue watching from afar
On my own.
Maybe then you'd see…
that you belong to me.
It's meant to be
And I gotta do this right…"

Sora cheered with the rest of the crowd and decided that he couldn't stay above the audience anymore. He had to be down there in the pit with them and experiencing the set the way it was intended. Noticing that Tidus and Wakka were too distracted by the performance, Sora took that instant to back away from the railing and sneak around them towards the stairs down to the pit. They never even noticed he left.

Without an introduction, 13 Hearts started going into the next song. Xigbar ripped open a loud solo accompanied by Axel screaming his guts out into the mic. The steady, rocking beat had Riku with one foot on the playback speaker to help him keep his balance as he thrashed his head over the crowd. His hair was already growing damp with sweat and started hitting the crowd, but the kids didn't appear the mind at all. Sora pushed his way through the people before he couldn't get any closer. The anticipation of the song starting had the kids already starting to shove into each other, and the already drenched brunet tried his best to keep up.

A half-hour later into the set, the band was still pumped, and Sora was almost certain that the red dripping from Xigbar's fingers wasn't pizza sauce. At the end of the current song the audience applauded and Riku turned to bark instructions at them. Without waiting for further orders, Axel pranced to the top of the speakers and jumped off, landing exactly on time with Marluxia pounding out another insane solo. Sora had been to shows with Demyx back in high school, but he never remembered them being this intense. He felt like he was on the verge of a holy experience just by being near those guitars. Riku grabbed his mic stand and breathed in loudly.

"It's all been said before!

Remember when I told you modesty's a bitch?

You just take it for granted,

And now I've lost control!

LET'S GO!"

Apparently that was the only lyric to the song, because Riku locked his mic back on the stand and didn't care as it tipped over and fell to the ground with resounding feedback. Riku, Xigbar, Axel, and Luxord started thrashing around on the small stage while somehow being able to continue making noise with their guitars, even though it probably wasn't the way it was supposed to sound. The kids didn't seem to care and an all-out brawl commenced in the middle of the pit. Sora wasn't afraid to throw a few punches and kick a few kneecaps, but he was completely unprepared when a foot collided with his jaw. At some point Riku had jumped off the stage and was crowd surfing. After the initial shock of the kick went away, Sora laughed and helped carry his foot and eventually his entire leg as the punk tried to direct the kids to throw him back towards the stage. As he kept coming his direction, Sora eventually got to touch his butt. The brunet bit his lip in excitement at being able to feel it, even if it was through a layer of jeans, multiple studded belts, unnecessary zippers, and some chains.

Riku suddenly started thrashing violently, and it caused most of the kids holding him up to let go. While Riku wasn't exactly heavy, all those metal chains didn't do much to help Sora hold him up. To make sure the punk didn't fall and get his head cracked open, Sora wrapped his arms around his middle and tried to lower him down as gently as possible. At this point Sora realized that their bodies were flush together. Riku already had his arms wrapped around Sora's shoulders and the nape of his neck. His legs were draped around Sora's hips, and the brunet still had his hands on his ass in a vain attempt to hold him up.

Their eyes met, and Sora's were a hollow hyper-sensitive blue after being in the pit for so long, but Riku's looked like muddy sea water after a storm. His senses were dampened from being on stage surrounded by the music. Sora could feel Riku's breath on his cheek as he leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I felt that…"

The punk pushed on Sora's neck and their lips melted together. Riku didn't wait for their kiss to warm up before he slid his tongue and tilted his head just slightly towards the left. As if confirming what Riku already observed as an obvious grope, the brunet tightened his fingers around Riku's hot ass and smiled about how awesome this was. Just as he was about to tilt his head towards the left to make the most perfect music video kiss ever, he heard glass shattering from behind. He looked towards the direction he heard the noise come from, not wanting to be in a mosh pit where broken glass was involved, because that's just unfair.

His eyes immediately collided with Tidus and Wakka, still at their spot above their pit and leaning against the railing. Wakka had a beer bottle in his hand, face frozen in shock and mouth slightly agape as he looked down at the brunet and the punk frontman, who had started nibbling on his neck while Sora's head was turned. Tidus' face mirrored Wakka's exactly, his hand held out in front in him as if a bottle had been there at one point. The young man looked down and realized that he had dropped his bottle and didn't even realize it, mouthing what everyone was thinking.

Shit.

By then Riku was standing on his own two feet and took Sora's cheek into his hand, guiding his face to turn and look towards him again. He remained completely oblivious to the panicked expression on Sora's face, a side effect to what had just occurred. He leaned in again and gave the brunet a simple kiss on the corner of his lips. "I have to get back. One more song. Wait for me afterwards, 'kay?"

Like a phantom, Riku disappeared into the crowd and appeared back onstage. Sora almost wanted to chance a look behind him again, but was afraid of what he might see. Tidus and Wakka didn't know anything about his past relationships. How were they going to take this? Maybe he could say that Riku was just really friendly. A lot of harbor-types are…

Sora looked up to the stage as Riku picked up his mic stand that still remained knocked over from the previous song. After laughing slightly and asking if the sound was still working, he said, "Okay, guys, you're really wearing me out. This is our last song of the night. It's a fresh one, never been played before. You ready?"

It seemed that 13 Hearts playing a new song was like God's gift to mosso-deprived kids everywhere. This song seemed a little raucous, but all the more heavy.

"There are times…
When I hear you say…
Those bittersweet lies,
'It's all okay.'
I gave up such a long time ago,
You meant more to me than you would ever know.
Why did you have to show up here at all?"

The guitars, bass, and drums all slowly faded away, and Sora felt like there was a giant spotlight on him at that very moment. It was their song. The kids in the audience were going crazy when Riku stopped singing, staring directly at Sora with that quirky little smirk of his. This isn't just a band, Sora decided, this is a phenomenon. Riku held up his hand and turned back to the band for a moment. When he lowered it, Marluxia hit the snares and Xigbar busted out a searing, slow-paced solo. Axel joined in as Riku turned back towards the mic and continued.

"I've never been so satisfied this way before.
Why did destiny ever send you through my door?
What did I prove to karma that I hadn't before?
How could fate ever give me hope for more?
I don't deserve you!
Because when you tilt your head with that gorgeous smile,
You should know this drives me wild.
Every time I'm with you I feel like I could die!
When you leave tomorrow, you'll take my reason to live.
So what other choice does this poor man give?
Living without you seemed more like dying,
You were my only chance when I stopped trying.
So before you go, why don't you just kiss me?"

The music stopped again, leaving Riku to sing alone. "Kill me." Most of the girls in the audience were screaming and absolutely loved the song. Riku took a bow and when he leaned back up he had the most brilliant and radiant smile Sora had ever seen on him before. This was different than most of his smirks or wry grins that were employed to lighten the mood around him. He seemed honest-to-God happy.

Sora still stood speechless in the middle of the dispersing pit as Riku spoke with his bandmates after the set. He wanted nothing more than to jump onstage and kiss the living daylights out of the frontman, but before he could even step forward two hands clasped down on his shoulders and kept him still. Sora didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"This is for your own good, ya?"

"I can't believe I didn't notice this earlier…"

~o~

Their set was over. Riku's ears were ringing and he couldn't keep the smile off his face. His eyes scanned the audience in the pit for Sora, but his search was fruitless. He tried not to be too miffed about it, because with the remaining crowd swarming in scores asking for encores and even autographs he wanted to appear happy to be there. Riku laughed off the idea of singing another song, his voice was nearly wiped after that last one, and accepted a towel from Yuffie to wipe the sweat off.

"I've got cheese and Italian sausage waiting for you in the green room," she said happily.

"What kind of crust?" Luxord asked hesitantly, taking off his bass and placing it on the rest.

The short, raven-haired girl paused to think. "Uh… Deep dish, I guess."

Luxord smirked and glanced back at Xigbar, who looked like he was about to snap his guitar's neck in half. Riku had already unplugged his mic and was getting ready to disassemble his stand.

"Hey guys, let's hurry up, okay? Do y'all need any help?"

Even though Axel was still a little upset that Riku had been late for their set, he wasn't completely heartless. "Go ahead, Romeo. We'll wrap things up here." Riku smiled and nodded, breathlessly jumping off the stage and trying to avoid anyone who wanted to talk and hold him back. Even if Sora wasn't in the audience, he knew where he'd have to be eventually.

~o~

Sora knew there was a word for this kind of treatment. He was forced to sit on one of the uncomfortable guest chairs that were kept in the corner in the living room of the condo. Wakka and Tidus sat opposite him sharing the couch, except maybe self-consciously sitting a few inches farther apart from each other than if they were simply watching movies. Tidus had poured everyone glasses of water that were left unused on the coffee table between them.

"So, Sora… Do you want to tell us what was going on back there?"

It was a fucking intervention.

"There's nothing to tell, guys. C'mon."

"No. No, no, no, no, no," Wakka said quickly. "Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Was it consensual?"

"Wakka…" Tidus mumbled, hiding his embarrassedly blushed face behind his hand.

He turned to his blond friend and glared. "It's an important question." Turning back to Sora, "So?"

"It…" Sora drawled, unable to think of what to say.

"He's stuttering. Oh my God, he liked it."

"Sora!"

"Guys. C'mon, nothing's changed."

"No! I mean, yes, something's changed, Sora. Oh my God," Wakka groaned, burying his face in his hands. It seemed like both Tidus and Wakka were refusing to look at him for a moment. Sora frowned and sat up straighter.

"You guys are going about this all wrong. I mean… It was a kiss." He took a deep breath. "It didn't mean anything."

"We saw you groping his butt, ya? I don't think that was nothing."

Sora bit the inside of his cheek. "…Are you sure?" He paused for a moment and soaked in his friend's questioningly blank faces. "I mean, there were a lot of kids there tonight."

"Well, did you?" Tidus almost cried out, worried that the brunet hadn't refuted everything. If he at least said it was a freak accident that would have been okay, but so far his friend wasn't refuting anything.

"…N-no."

Tidus looked more worried than anything. Wakka just looked overwhelmingly pissed off, which was a rare face for the young man, but Sora knew that lying was one of the few things that really set the redhead off.

"I need you to tell me, ya? Or at least… Sora. Are you… ho… homosehhh… Are you… gay?"

"Geez, don't say it like it's contagious."

"SORA!" Tidus cried out. "Holy shit! Does Kairi know?"

"No! I mean- There's nothing to tell! I'm marrying her. She knows all of my secrets."

"So you really are gay?" Wakka asked, needing concrete clarification.

"Would I be marrying her if I was?" Sora asked, begging them for some common sense, but Wakka wasn't taking the bait.

"Yes or no, Sora."

Sora hated labels and took a brief moment to consider the reasoning behind his answer. Technically, if Sora loved Kairi, which he did very, very much, then he wasn't technically gay. Technically. Thank God Wakka was going to college to be a sports manager and not a lawyer. "No."

"And you're sure?" Tidus asked.

"Look, what more can I say? He just sort of jumped me. He was probably in a show-high. You guys have done crazier shit in high school, don't lie."

"Yeah, but we never kissed a dude," Wakka stated.

Even Tidus started to think that Wakka was being a little harsh about it. "Man, c'mon, if he says he isn't, then… I believe him." He turned to Sora. "But I'm worried about your fiancée. From what you say, she's your world. You don't want to do anything to hurt her, right?" The answer was obvious, and Sora nodded. "Then let's just let tonight be an accident, and you be a stronger person for it."

Yes. Anything to get out of this torture. Wakka conceded by rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, looking out the bay windows, even though he could only see a reflection of the living room scene. "Okay. I'll let him know."

"I can't believe this," Wakka grumbled.

"C'mon, it's cool. Sora gets it." Tidus wanted desperately to reconcile the gap that seemed to form between his two friends. "Um… Do you guys wanna watch Baseketball?"

Wakka turned his eyes from the window to Sora, who innocently looked back and shrugged his shoulders, smiling meekly. "…Fine," he sighed.

"You guys have fun," Sora sighed, standing up. "I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed. The show really wore me out."

"I'll bet."

"Wakka. Okay, Sora. G'night. Can you turn the lights out before you go?"

As soon as the lights were out and Sora was a safe distance down the hallway, he sighed and leaned against the door, slowly turning the knob and letting his body weight force the door open. He found his towel on the floor by the door where he left it last time. The shower was probably the most anticipated part of the evening, at least after dealing with the intervention.

He didn't bother waiting for the water to warm up before jumping in, embracing the bitter cold. This would teach him to do something stupid like that again. Never, ever kiss a boy in public. Of course, Sora couldn't even reason to himself that the kiss was entirely Riku's fault. He wanted it just as much. He could even taste the punk's acidic sweat remaining on his lips. Looking down at his hands, he didn't even want to wash them after they got a chance to touch Riku's marvelous butt. Smirking to himself, Sora reminisced over the image of Riku by the beach without his shirt on as he rinsed his hair and wondered if the frontman worked out. The thought of him sweating over some machine to build up his abs was definitely arousing, and he didn't have to look down to see the effects that these mental images were having on his body. The cold water didn't feel good anymore and he decided to crank up the heat.

"Ffffuck," Sora mumbled, shying his head into the crook of his arm and biting his lip. He started providing himself with some sort of relief, wanting nothing more than this built-up pressure to just go away and leave him alone. Stupid Riku. Sora grunted when he came into his hand. Looking down at the mess with no hidden look of aversion, he quickly washed it all away under the shower fall, too embarrassed with himself to let his mind stay on this topic. It didn't even feel that good. Two shampoos later he nearly tripped out of the tub in a hazed state of mind caused by the steamy shower. He felt like he was running a fever, and wanted nothing more than to sleep the night off.

On the counter by the sink rested his engagement ring. He hadn't worn it once this whole trip and Sora felt despicable because of it. This was it. He had to tell Riku what was going on. The brunet took the ring off the counter and placed it back on his left ring finger. The cold metal felt uncomfortable against his warm skin.

Wrapping a towel around his waist, Sora walked across the hall to his bedroom and slowly shut the door behind him. He cursed the fact that his room didn't have any real lights, and tried to walk to his bedside table where the lone lamp was. Before he even had a chance to take three steps, the lamp turned on.

"Well. Not what I was expecting. But, yanno, nice."

Riku. On his bed.

"What are you doing here?" Sora wanted to shout, but kept his voice down.

The punk, still in his gig clothes, sat up and swung his legs over. "Well, it took me a bit to get out of the restaurant. I wanted to grab a slice of pizza before trying to find you, right? Since I didn't see you around I figured you might as well be here." There was a slight pause when Riku noticed Sora leaning back for the door and locking it. He couldn't tell if he was trying to be kinky or, by the serious look on his face, trying to be safe. "…What's up? Why didn't you wait for me after the show?"

Sora bit his lip and took a tighter grip on his towel. "Tidus and Wakka kinda saw us making out in the middle of the mosh pit," he mumbled. Riku just blinked and glanced to the side, taking a moment to think, but judging by his facial features, he wasn't as concerned as Sora was.

"Okay. So this is good news. You've finally come out to them, right?"

"I-It's not that simple, Riku." Sora was keeping his left hand hidden behind his back.

"So you didn't?"

Sora felt like he couldn't keep anybody happy these days. Everything was slowly beginning to unravel. "Well, kinda, I mean, I-"

"How do you kinda come out to someone?" Riku asked, single eyebrow raised. He rested his elbows on his knees and lowering his head in defeat. "I really like you, y'know? I just think that maybe this is all a little one-sided…"

"No!" Sora said loudly, quickly biting his lip and telling himself to whisper. "No, Riku, I really like you, too. I just can't come out to them. You don't understand. I'm just not ready yet." Sora gulped as he took his engagement ring off again, hiding it in his palm.

Riku wanted to shout back asking what he wouldn't understand. He knew he didn't go to college, but at least he had some common sense and people skills under his belt. Sora was probably just terrified that he'd lose his friends. Riku had been 'out' since he was in middle school. Nobody ever really questioned his preferences. He was just Riku. The twelve-year-old who liked boys. And he grew up from that, passing experiences and knowledge on from one grade to the next until he moved to the perfect community at the harbor. He understood all the different reasons why men and women chose to stay behind closed doors, and he always thought they were just alienating themselves from a world of wider opportunity. Of course, Sora had so far proven himself different from every other guy he had ever met, so maybe his reasons for not coming out were more profound than the others. For once he'd just like a boyfriend that he didn't have to sneak around all the time.

"Okay," Riku finally sighed, nodding his head. "Okay, I guess I can deal with this."

"Riku…" The poor punk just looked so depressed, and nothing was more depressing than a sad scene kid. While Riku's gaze was focused on the floor, Sora placed the ring on the chest of drawers by his bedroom door. He walked over to the bed and sat next to him, taking his hand. "You're, like, the coolest guy I've ever met. You know me so well and you aren't afraid to change for me. You mean so much to me. You do. I really like you, too."

Sora drifted closer to Riku and leaned to his side, placing a soft kiss on the punk's temple. Riku turned his head and looked deeply into Sora's eyes. The dim lighting in the room made it nearly impossible to see clearly, but he didn't need to see straight to know what Sora wanted. He leaned forward and kissed the brunet longingly. When he slowly pulled away, they both had smiles on their faces. Sora's grin widened, simply happy to see that Riku was smiling again, and he leaned back and laid his head near the foot of the bed.

"Your set tonight was so amazing," Sora stated while stretching his arms and back. Riku turned back and watched the wet-haired brunet roll around on the bed. "That last song… That was like a movie! You were so cool on stage with the crowd absolutely loving it. I bet it goes to your head all the time."

Riku scoffed, still sitting up and keeping a smile on his face. "Does not. No matter how famous we get and no matter how many people throw their underwear onstage after a third encore, I'll never ever let it go to my head."

"Which head are you talking about?" Sora chastised, trying to hold back his laughter.

"So… You really thought we were good, huh?" Riku asked. He started swinging his leg from side to side, knocking his knee softly against Sora's.

"Yeah," Sora sighed, speaking from the point of the view of the entire night. He didn't have to think about it, and he definitely wasn't just saying it to be nice.

"Did you like your song?"

"Don't call it that. It's your music. It's yours."

Riku turned to look at the brunet, who had his hands folded behind his head and his eyes closed. He looked so peaceful. Riku decided to lean back and join him, resting side-by-side with their feet hanging off the side of the bed. "It's our song."

"Really?" Sora asked with a hint of sarcasm. "Because I don't exactly fantasize about killing you every time we're together."

The punk tried to fight back the idea that if Sora didn't daydream about killing then perhaps his idle thoughts were a bit more provocative. "You're killing me right now," he stated, making the brunet's eyebrow rise.

Sora turned his head as Riku leaned on his elbow and looked down on him. "Really? How so?"

"This," Riku mumbled, never taking his eyes off Sora as he reached his hand slowly up the man's thigh under the forest green towel that was still damp from drying off. Once Sora realized that Riku didn't show any plans on stopping, he freaked and swatted his hand away.

"Riku!" he wanted to scream, but kept it down to a hoarse whisper. He readjusted his towel nervously, but Riku had already seen enough to know that he wasn't wearing underwear or boxers under it. "Tidus and Wakka are like right outside." The surprising thing that Sora didn't expect was that Riku actually removed his hand and stopped.

"…I know," Riku mumbled, leaning down slightly to give him a quick peck on the lips. "Sorry."

Sora was left stunned when Riku started pulling back. Did the punk think he was moving too fast? He reached out and grabbed the material of his shirt and pulled him back down. More than willingly, and Sora tried to brush aside the thought that Riku had been expecting him to do this, Sora returned the kiss with a greater fervor than he could have ever accomplished by standing up in a pit.

"We've sorta come too far for you to just give up so soon," Sora grumbled softly as they pulled their lips apart. "Just… try to keep it down, okay?" Riku would continuously nip at his lips when the brunet was speaking, moving down and kissing his neck and collarbone. At one point while kissing the dip in Sora's shoulder, the young man let out staggering moan between short puffs of breath. Riku almost seemed as if he were in pain as he leaned back and looked down at Sora under him.

"Impossible." He shifted all his weight onto one arm and used his free hand to caress Sora's naked chest. It was like a freshly tuned guitar he just had to play. He looked down to watch the body's reaction, how every muscle that his fingers traveled across would twitch beneath his touch. With his body being subject to such intense scrutiny under Riku's gaze, Sora felt his entire face start to heat up and blush against his will. His mind started to come up with different ways to make Riku feel just as subjugated, like maybe calling him on it, or perhaps taking off Riku's shirt and making the punk blush. All ideas of getting even with Riku were immediately thrown out the window when the musician leaned forward and whispered into Sora's ear, "I'll make you feel so good."

Sora had to get a good look at Riku's face to figure whether he was truly serious, but to his surprise, that pretty face was hidden behind those long, silver bangs. The heat radiating off of him was unmistakable, though. Riku was just as embarrassed and flustered as Sora was, and the brunet found something oddly endearing about that. The punk's two hands on either side of Sora's head gripped the sheets as he waited for a response. Smirking confidently, something Sora hadn't really done in a situation like this in a long while, he whispered back, "…Impossible." A completely irresponsible, stupid challenge.

Every voice inside Sora's head was telling him to just say no. But instead he found himself readjusting so he was lying on the bed. He was helping Riku take his numerous showy belts off instead of showing him out the door. He was whispering the frontman's name instead of saying goodbye. He was watching Riku slide on a condom instead of watching a movie with his friends. The sweaty black shirt was dropped to the floor and the forest green towel had come undone and lost within the sheets. Sora relished the feeling of Riku reaching down and touching him in a way he hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

Riku watched with a small sense of discomfort at the wincing faces Sora was making. "Is this hurting? I'm sorry…" He made sure to whisper, because the last thing they would want would be to get caught. Although the deeper he went the harder it was for him to care about that. Sora's happiness came first. He continued kissing his neck and chest while slowly easing in and out, waiting for Sora's breath to hitch.

"There. You got it," the brunet gasped, tightening his grip on Riku's shoulders.

Okay, Kuroyama, don't fuck this up. "Oh. Okay… Like- like this?" Riku grunted.

"No…" Sora breathed, shifting slightly and making the man above him hiss. "More to the right. More up."

"Like that?"

"My right. Push mo- ah!"

Riku figured he finally hit the good spot and continued making deep, slow thrusts, not wanting to break Sora or make him uncomfortable in any way. Sora tried to bite back outrageous moans and wailings each time Riku seemingly leisurely ground against his prostate. Riku had to want this more than he was acting. Sora figured he was being slow for his sake, and while it had been nice, Sora definitely wasn't some fragile porcelain doll. Finding their rhythm was easy once Sora started pushing back.

The tension and sweet, sweet pressure was starting to build up within him. The only sound in the room was Riku's labored breathing. Sora had to bite his lip so hard that he could taste blood. Riku's rock-hard stomach rubbing against his erection wasn't helping. "Shit… Riku, I-"

Just as he looked down to make some sort of eye contact with the punk, Riku's eyes were closed tensely and he buried his face in the crook of Sora's neck. Any sound Riku made as he pulsed inside Sora became muffled into the brunet's skin. The sound alone was enough to send the brunet toppling over the edge and he spilled himself messily in shots across their stomachs.

After a moment of deep panting, Riku rolled off of Sora and lay next to him on the bed. Sora rode the waves of his orgasm high, smiling and gripping Riku's hand. It felt absolutely fantastic and he couldn't ask for anything more. Well, except maybe one thing…

"We need to try this sometime when the guys aren't around," Sora panted once his head started coming down from the clouds. He shifted slightly in the bed, looking for his towel. Once he found it, he went to work wiping the cum away before it got on the bed sheets. He didn't want to explain to Tidus and Wakka the next morning why he suddenly had to do laundry. Riku took the towel from Sora and wrapped it around his used condom, using it to clean himself off.

"Well," Riku whispered. "There's always my place." Sora blushed at the idea that Riku was saying there would be another chance. He smiled and did a half-assed job cleaning off his stomach. Most of this would clean off easily in a shower.

Speaking of, "I have to take another shower," Sora muttered, resting his head on Riku's shoulder as the frontman chuckled and wrapped his arm around him. They lay like that for many minutes and simply talked about nothing important. Riku explained his concerns about setting the band out to tour, and Sora told stories about his past with Demyx and all the mischief they would get in behind all prying eyes' backs. It was when Sora caught Riku slowly starting to doze off that the brunet forced him to go home.

"When will I see you again?" Riku asked as they faced each other between the entryway of the sliding glass door. Sora was wearing the dirty towel around his waist as some kind of guard while Riku stayed topless, making a makeshift bag out of his shirt to store his chains and belts in. The punk was looking awfully yummy in just his low-riding fitted jeans. Sora was reminded of that pink muffin shirt. He grabbed the belt loops and pulled Riku closer for one last kiss.

"Tomorrow," Sora promised before sending him on his way. Since the sliding door was perpendicular to the main door outside that led to the living room of the condo, Riku was very careful to slip out in all the blind spots, just in case Tidus and Wakka happened to be noticing. Judging by the lights flashing through the curtained windows and the distinct sound of Wakka's bawling laughter, this wasn't a big problem. Riku walked backwards most of the way, even moving backwards down the stairs so he could have more time to look towards Sora. Before he disappeared around the corner, Riku gave Sora a wink and waved.

Sora smiled and waved back, and once Riku was completely out of sight he shut the door, checked to make sure that his friends were indeed totally enthralled in their movie, and limped towards the shower.

~o~

The next afternoon found Sora in an impromptu house meeting with his friends. Apparently tonight was the big blitzball game they had promised him when he first arrived to the harbor. Sora was still having fantasies about last night and was having a difficult time focusing on listening to his friend's plan.

"So we're going to take the shuttle up from the boardwalk to the new docks. We should probably leave here about two hours early to leave time for getting inside and finding seats," Tidus announced. When he noticed Sora wasn't paying attention, he snapped his fingers in front of his blurry blue eyes. "Yo! Strife, you listening?"

Sora blinked and shook his head. "Uh, yeah, sorry. Didn't get much sleep last night." He glanced nervously over to Wakka, who still looked at him with a questionable air.

Tidus caught the tension growing between Sora and Wakka and tried to dissolve it quickly. "Well, we were thinking about hanging out around the beach today, maybe hitting the boardwalk and getting a better look at what's around. Wanna come with?"

Honestly, Sora really didn't want to. He grew out of the blitzball rivalry spirit as soon as he walked the stage for high school graduation. The only things he really wished to do were to stay at home in bed or find Riku and be with him. But he felt like he owed it to them, at least after what he did last night behind their backs.

So they hit the road and walked up through the boardwalk. Sora was already pretty familiar with the place since he spent most of his days there while his friends were inside watching movies. He walked sluggishly behind them and would wait while they analyzed shop's signs and calculated whether or not it was worth going in. They weren't exactly searching for souvenirs, but more like looking for the shop that would have most hot beach bunnies inside. Sora tried to choke back the sneaking suspicion that they were doing this for his benefit.

They spent the entire day narrowly avoiding the video rental shop, and he definitely knew why. Although Sora was almost positive that Riku wasn't working today, it just led him to be a little disappointed that he hadn't called or at least texted him by the time they all loaded on a complimentary shuttle bus that would take them to the blitzball game.

"Come on, this'll only take a second," Tidus guaranteed as they entered one of the dingy bathrooms inside the stadium. Sora had already assured them that he had used the bathroom before they got on the bus and didn't need to go, and they replied that it wasn't like that. Once they were standing in front of a mirror, Tidus opened up his saddle bag that he was keeping bottled water in, and hidden amongst the nest of spiral paper and receipts that also cluttered everything was a small tub of blue face paint. It was the home team's, the Fighting Orcas, team color. Tidus handed the tub to Wakka, who opened it and started slathering paint all over his face in the mirror. Sora watched on in absolute horror.

"I'm not doing this," Sora stated, taking a step back.

"It's not that bad. You'll totally forget about it once you see the awesome seats we scored," Tidus promised, taking the paint from Wakka once he was done and painting his face half blue, with a big blue F.O. printed on his unpainted cheek. He started to hand the tub to Sora. "Or would you like me to do it for you?"

"I don't want to do it at all. What's in that paint, anyway?"

"Don't worry, I got it from the local store. The label says it's totally organic and everything. Come on, you used to do this all the time in high school!" And it was true, for the amount of miscreant pleasure Sora got from running around with Demyx and his friends at night, somehow he had equal amounts of fun obsessing over blitzball scores and team stats with his friends at school. He had fallen out of the blitzball game when he started going to college, but he did specifically remember that things like spilling paint all over yourself and screaming like idiots into a camera used to be fun.

Sora sighed and grabbed the tub from Tidus, the young man hissing out a victorious 'yes' while giving Wakka a high-five. The brunet stood in front of the mirror and attempted to hold his hair back as he donned the Fighting Orca warrior colors.

Entering the arena gave him goose bumps. He had forgotten the overwhelming thrill to enter a chanting stadium ready for blitzing. Taking their seats was that much better, they were three rows away from the 30-yard line.

"If we sit any closer we'll be kissing glass. Aren't these the best seats in the house?" Tidus cried out, marveling at the massive oval tank that was centered in the middle of the field. The pre-game festivities began with great huzzah, and soon the players had entered the pool and the game had begun.

~o~

Riku sat in his favorite booth at the pizza parlor, dully twirling his phone between his finger and the table. The day was almost finished and he hadn't seen Sora yet. The brunet had promised him they would see each other today… Although he did leave the condo in the AM so maybe Sora really meant Monday when he said tomorrow. Riku sighed and laid his phone flat on the table. Maybe he was just thinking too hard about this. If he called that would be violating the token 3-day rule, right? Although… they already had their first date, and hell, if they were keeping up with the 'days of dating' calendar, last night would have counted as the third date, right? So there really shouldn't have been anything holding Riku back from calling Sora at all. Riku wished there was a guide book for this sort of thing.

"Well, God-forbid we find young Riku thinking," Axel gasped, walking up to their booth and placing a personal pan pizza between them. "So is this the part of the movie where you realize your life is in shambles and you have to get the girl?"

"Cute. No." He paused, pouting at his cell phone. "Well, maybe. How soon is too soon?"

"For what? Giving him a call?" Axel took a slice of his specialty meat lovers with peppers and raised a brow expectantly. "Did you ever find him last night?" Riku just nodded slowly with an absent look in his eyes that only fueled Axel's expectations. "Didja… kiss?"

"Mayhaps."

"Didja… snuggle?"

"Could've."

"Didja bone him?"

"Fucking hard."

"Atta boy!" Axel exclaimed, giving his friend a congratulatory pat on the back. "The ol' Kuroyama one-two punch. Do 'em and slew 'em."

"Shit, it was so amazing. I swear it's like a religious experience. He's gotta be some kind of deity. Normal guys like me aren't allowed to be this happy. That's what they teach you, right?"

'They' being a relatively broad term, Axel chose to question, "Who? The school system? Washington? The church?" He added a smart pause. "Well, I guess when you look at it, it's all really the same thing, now."

"So what do I do now?" Riku asked, picking up his cell phone and pressing a button to make the face light up. The sun was just starting to set, and so far he hadn't heard from him. "I should call him, right?"

"The three day rule?"

"He's leaving in seven. That's almost half his time left here."

"So do you really think he's gonna wanna-WOAH! There he is!" Axel almost spit peppered pizza in Riku's face as he jumped from his seat and pointed towards the entrance of the parlor. Riku turned quickly, expecting to see his little brunet walking through the door, but instead he caught a brief glimpse of the television set bolted to the wall nearby. Sora was screaming into the camera at the blitzball game the parlor was getting a fuzzy reception of. His face was painted with blue streaks diagonally like vicious battle scars. Standing on either side of him was Wakka and Tidus, faces painted just the same and making 'O' shapes with their hands.

"ORCAS! Fighting Orcas! Whoo!" Sora screamed with every ounce of testosterone he could muster before the game feed cut to a commercial. Riku was left with his mouth left slightly ajar while Axel's hysterical laughter filled the entire restaurant.

"Oh my GOD! Did you see that?" he cried. Yes, yes of course he saw. Riku continued staring at the television, now showing an ad for cologne. "Your boyfriend's a jock!" At least that explained why Riku hadn't heard from him yet today. He wished Sora had told him he was going to the game. Although there wasn't much he could do about it now. He definitely couldn't call him and expect him to answer, so instead he flipped his phone open and sent him a simple text.

During the time-out at the blitzball field, Sora felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He opened his cell and read the new message that appeared on the front screen.

'Hey TV star. Don't let it go to your head(s). See you when you get back.'

~o~

"I want to go on another date with you."

Sora paused at the edge of the beach, just to where the waves lightly swam past his feet and caused the sand to erode around him. After a lot of tricky finagling, he was able to leave Tidus and Wakka to their own devices for the afternoon so he could take a walk by the shore. He had just gotten up the nerve to call Riku when the punk ended up calling him first. The initial words out of his mouth seemed a lot like a demand.

"So what, Saturday didn't count?" Sora laughed into the receiver, kicking a wave with his bare foot. "…You didn't tell anybody, did you?"

"Of course not. I don't kiss and tell." Riku nervously cleared his throat, so Sora assumed that half the town was probably gossiping about it right now. He sighed and reminded himself that it wasn't like Riku didn't warn him this would happen.

"Okay, fine."

"Seriously?"

"Don't call it a date, though. That sounds so kitschy."

"What should I call it, then? A meeting? Rendezvous?"

"Call it 'out'."

"We're going on an out."

"We're going out," Sora corrected before he could stop himself. He knew how it sounded before Riku could speak. There was a short pause on the other end of the line.

"…Going out, huh? I kinda like the sound of that."

~o~

"And for the gentleman," Riku said, holding a pepper grinder over Sora's salad. The brunet laughed and rolled his eyes, motioning for Riku to continue grinding until he stopped him. "Not too bad, huh?" the punk asked as he took his seat across from Sora.

"It's terrific," Sora assured, nibbling at his greens like a bunny, just to be polite. In reality Sora hated salads and most vegetables like he was still a little kid. It was something he was always reprimanded about as a child but never really grew past it. Judging by the way Riku appeared to be shifting the leaves around on his plate rather than eating, it almost seemed like the punk was pretending to be interested in it to be polite. After all, only serious adults eat salads with their dinners, or perhaps that was the aura Riku was trying to pull off.

All of his usually gaudy facial piercings were replaced with simple silver. He wore a black collared shirt with a black tie, black jeans, even black shoes, which happened to be skater sneakers, and Sora was almost certain Riku didn't own any business shoes. Sora was also fairly certain that Riku hadn't bought a new pair of slacks since high school, because these were slightly short and had worn holes around the back pockets. There weren't any chains or necklaces or wristbands tonight, and Sora was left to wonder slightly about what the occasion could possibly be. Because of the blitzball game the day before, he requested Riku to keep the lights dimmed. Not so much to enhance the romantic atmosphere, but because the blue paint he thoughtlessly slathered all over his face ended up causing an allergic reaction, making him break out in a small rash. He certainly didn't feel pretty, and deemed himself terribly underdressed in his regular touristy jeans and a tee shirt.

"It's, ah… Really good," Sora mumbled, stomaching another bite of lettuce for the sake of saving face. "I had no idea you could cook."

"Well, living off of pasta and PBJs teaches you to be a little self-sufficient. I've just never really tried much with meat before," Riku replied with a shrug. The expression on his face changed as he looked past Sora towards the kitchen. "Actually, I should check on that… It should've finished a while ago." He stood up and disappeared around the corner.

Sora was left alone at the small two-person table in the informal dining room connected to the den. He took this as a precious moment to garner a better look at Riku's house. The bright orange walls were covered randomly with old photographs and pictures of his friends at the harbor. In the corner of the living room were several of his guitars resting on stands next to an amp. There wasn't a television, but instead at the focal point of the room was a rather large fireplace. The mild winter weather that the harbor received almost never dipped down below fifty degrees. Having such a nice fireplace seemed pointless.

"Riku," Sora called, hearing the young man in the kitchen messing with the stove and opening various cabinets. "What's with the fireplace?"

Riku poked his head from around the corner and returned to the table with two plates of seasoned chicken breast and a side of whole green beans. "Oh, that," he mumbled, glancing at it for a moment. "Well, this house was commissioned by my great grandma. I never met her, but from what I was told she was kind of eccentric." He bowed his head and motioned that it was okay for Sora to start eating. The brunet took a bite out of the chicken and was immediately in love. "She leased the place out to her son, my grandpa, who sold it to a leasing company he co-owned, and when he died, the house was left to my aunt and she said I could live here as long as I don't embarrass the family! Which, you know, I try. So… that's why I got a bitchin' house that everyone's jealous of," he ended with a smile before turning his attention back to the food.

"That's so cool she lets you stay here." Riku raised his eyebrows while keeping his eyes focused on his food, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Do you plan on living here forever?" Sora asked, stuffing the chicken into his cheek so he could talk.

"Nah, I don't think so," Riku replied with a shrug. "I don't really have plans on keeping the place. It's nice, but I know it'd be expensive to keep, and it's starting to get old and need repairs. In the short term it'd be cheaper to just get an apartment. I'll probably share a place with Axe."

"You really like living at the harbor, huh?"

"Yeah, but… there's nothing here, y'know? I mean, there's good people who support us as a band, but there aren't any labels or big cities around, save for Bastion. For the sake of the band, I feel like we'd have to move up north if we want any chance at success."

Sora took a moment so swallow this news along with his chicken and a sip of red wine. "…So you're not going to stay around here?"

"Well, it's really too early to tell. There's definitely more interest in music in Bastion than at the harbor. The only reason why Bloodfest and 13 Hearts are so popular is because of the kids, but in reality it's hip-hop and reggae that the people listen to around here. In Bastion it's a more metro environment that digs our sound, too. We'd probably try and make a bigger establishment in Bastion before hitting up the larger cities like Seattle or Boston." At least Riku seemed to have a plan. It seemed like he was growing too big for his little garage town.

"I still have to talk it over with the guys," he continued. "I know a lot of them wouldn't mind moving to Bastion, and I know Luxord is in talks with a store owner downtown to buy his lot. He's gambling a lot of money into making this art gallery for the university's student works. But he's assured us it'll be successful and that it'll help us get a lot of money for the band in a few years."

"Really?" Sora asked, not expecting Luxord to be any kind of art buff. "That seems like a really roundabout way of getting cash for moving. Wouldn't it be easier to just get full-time jobs and be a band-by-night sort of deal?"

"It's Luxord's idea, and the dude comes from old money, so it's not really my place to tell him how to invest it," Riku replied with a shrug. "Marly wants to join in, too. He says there's a lost art in flower arranging. I think they're going to be business partners for this little project. But if they can get the university to help back us, then maybe we can have an easier time getting a single on the college radio. I haven't really thought too far ahead. We probably won't be moving until later, anyway. If we move fast enough, maybe when my lease is up here." He chuckled slightly at himself before adding, "I'm acting so gung-ho about this, but I'm actually kind of terrified. There's no telling what kind of success we might find…"

"That's so exciting, though. I don't think I'd ever be able to imagine moving around so fast. My parents were kind of like that, though. They got married while they were still in high school, and I was born… ech, not long after that."

"Don't like to dwell on it that much, huh?" Riku chuckled.

"It's just that my whole family seems to be that way," Sora sighed, taking another bite of his chicken.

"Well, at least you're lucky," Riku tried to reason. "You're almost out of college and not married yet! But it's perfectly normal for kids to try and not be like… Are you okay?"

Sora looked like he had just choked on his meal. His face was pale and his eyes were watering, but he assured Riku that he was fine. "Yeah, I'm alright, sorry. Just went down the wrong pipe." Sora looked up at him to convince him that he was fine, and his eyes locked with Riku's worried gaze. He hadn't thought about Kairi for the past few days. He was starting to feel really awful. "…I should go."

Riku's puzzled look was almost heartbreaking. "Huh? Why? I thought that… Is everything okay?"

"Of course, yes, everything's fine," Sora said, his face betraying him as he stood and tried to disguise his cringing frown by wiping his mouth. The napkin rubbing against his skin reminded him of the rashes, and he felt even more out of place. "I just think that I should be going."

"Now? But Sora, I was…"

The brunet started walking towards the door when Riku softly grabbed his shoulder and held him back.

"…I was kind of hoping you'd stay."

Sora frowned and turned to look at Riku. "You don't get it," he stated with a hint of severity. "I'm leaving in five days. And I can't do this." Sora honestly didn't understand. Riku was being so nice and generous. He could understand a one-night stand, but Sora couldn't comprehend being made a home-cooked meal. He didn't understand why Riku was being so nice, always smiling and wanting to be close, and he definitely didn't understand the idea of having a song written and dedicated to him. Riku knew he was leaving by the end of the week. "I really like you… but I can't…"

"Then… just stay the night…"

The voice inside of Sora's head was screaming at him to walk away, but instead he allowed himself to be enveloped in Riku's arms. When the singer started cradling Sora's head and kissed him, the brunet finally decided to shut that little voice up and let his heart do the talking. While being led into the bedroom, the last thing he remembered was Riku encouraging him to be as loud as he wanted.

~o~

"This is so stupid," Wakka grumbled as he walked by Tidus down the boardwalk, looking at any stores or restaurants that their AWOL friend might be in. Sora had left at some point early in the evening the day before, leaving his cell phone at the condo, and he never came home. "Who leaves their phone behind, seriously?"

Tidus was feeling about the same as his redheaded companion as they passed by the video rental store. "Hey, maybe he's here. Isn't that the place where that punk works? Maybe someone there might know where he is…" Wakka followed his friend through the door and found the store relatively empty, save for a real scraggy kid sitting behind the counter. His awkwardly cut blond hair obscured most of his face as he played minesweeper on the work's computer.

"Hey," Tidus said as he walked up to the counter. The kid looked up at the customer and pulled away from the computer.

"Can I help y'all?" he asked, looking between the two men that just walked in.

"Yeah, maybe. We're looking for our friend. About my height, spiky brown hair, goes by Sora Strife. He went out yesterday and never came home."

"Sora Strife," the kid asked, raising a brow. "As in the Strife guy that totally chewed out the frontman of my band?" After saying that, Tidus recognized the little punk as being Zell, the guitarist at the show that Sora had gotten trashed at during his first night at the harbor.

"Sorry about that," Tidus sighed, wondering if the kid wouldn't help them at all now.

"Dude, don't apologize. We thought it was hilarious. Nobody really sticks up to Seifer like that, like ever. But no, I haven't seen him much at all, at least not since the set. Sorry."

Tidus sighed and started walking towards the door. "Wait a bit," Wakka said to him, making Tidus pause by the door. The redhead turned to the punk behind the counter. "What about Riku? Did you guys see each other yesterday?"

"Wakka. Come on…"

"Well, yeah, we crossed paths yesterday when I was replacing him for the evening shift. He, uh, mentioned something about cooking a meal at home that night or something. Sounded really nice."

"Nice?" Wakka probed.

"Well, yeah. It was probably for his boyfriend."

Tidus and Wakka both had the same slightly stunned looks on their faces. They were both under the impression that Riku was gay, especially after the kiss they saw him give their friend, and hearing it from Zell only confirmed their suspicions. "Boyfriend?" Wakka asked.

Zell rolled his eyes and tried to hold back a snort. "Chyeah, well, I guess you haven't known him that long, but still. Isn't it obvious? He's a little, you know… friendly to single guys. I mean, everybody here is cool with it, too. We think it's great," he added, just in case these men weren't as open to the idea as most of the people in town were. The harbor was always a very liberal town, but Zell was beginning to wonder if he had said too much in front of these strangers.

Just then, the bell tied to the front door chimed as it swung open. "Yo! Zell! I forgot my- woooooah…" Riku's confident swagger stumbled when he saw Sora's friends nearly glaring at him as he walked into the building. It was unfortunately too late to turn around and run. They looked so unbelievably distraught. Riku gulped and decided to play stupid. How could they possibly know about his date last night? "Uh… Hey guys," he said, gulping down his hesitancy and turning back to Zell. "I forgot my paycheck the other day. Is it around?"

The blond punk held up an envelope from the counter and passed it off to Riku. "Maybe you could help them," Zell stated. "They're looking for Sora. Have you seen him?"

Have I seen him? Riku asked himself jokingly. He definitely saw a whole lot of him in his bed last night. "Ah, no. I haven't seen him in the past couple of days, I guess. I dunno. I haven't really ever talked to him since the party a week ago." He hated the notion that he might be getting off on trying to see if he could get away with lying to his friends. Maybe Sora was right. There was some kind of secret fun that came with hiding from the public and telling lies. He wanted to see the brunet again soon so he could tell him about how he tried to outsmart his friends.

"I'm glad we ran into you," Tidus stated. "Wakka and I were just a little curious about Saturday night's show… About why you kissed him…"

Riku tried his best to pull off a moderately surprised look. "Kissed him? When did that happen?"

"During the last song," Tidus reminded, feeling a little foolish that he would have to recap this story at all. "You jumped into the audience and practically attacked him. Sora said he was forced. I want to hear your side."

Jeez, way to go, Sora. You make it seem like I'm a molester. "Oh, well, you know how it is…" Riku drawled, but paused for a moment when he looked at Sora's friends and realized just who exactly he was talking to. They didn't understand what it was like, so he tried his best to elaborate in layman's terms. "Music is like… It's like sex."

Wakka seemed confused. "Sex."

"You know, think of blitzball or something. You guys like blitzball, right? Don't you think something happens when you get all those healthy, moist, hormonal young men inside a locker room after a good game, and they're all patting each other on the back, complimenting performances, seemingly innocent victory man-hugs, or doing that innocuous little butt slap… thing. Yeah, you know, it's something like that. You just gotta grab someone near you. It doesn't matter who, and just…" Pound them mercilessly into a mattress. "Yeah." Riku could feel his face heating up. He held his paycheck up in a mock-salute towards Zell, who seemed about as perplexed with his behavior as the two other men were. "Sorry to bail. I've got places to go, people to see. I hope you find your friend."

Without another word, Riku was out of the store like a bat out of Hell. Wakka and Tidus looked to each other for some kind of reasoning behind the gibberish Riku just fed them. Zell laughed and tried to explain. "Leave it to Riku to compare sex with blitzball. Do you guys like it?"

"…Blitzball or sex?" Wakka asked, just to make sure they were on the same page.

It took Tidus a moment to realize what the shaved-head, pierced up, and inked band member had said. "Seriously?" he asked. He figured that this harbor town was a music wasteland with no room for athletics. "Who's your team?"

"I grew up in the north, and blitz is such a coast-oriented game, so we didn't have a lot of teams. But I was brought up a Brawling Beaver and will stay one 'til I die."

"No way," Wakka cried. "Beavers suck! How can you live on the harbor and not be an Orcas fan?"

Meanwhile, as Zell managed to unknowingly distract the two tourists from finding their missing friend, the absent brunet had already found himself at the empty condo. On the kitchen counter was his cell phone that he had left in his room, along with a note from Tidus telling Sora to call if he ever came home. He sighed and picked up the phone, hoping that Demyx's number from high school still worked.

"Ch'ello?"

There was a God. "Demyx! Hi, it's me."

"Of course it's you. I still have your number in my phone," Demyx laughed. His old friend probably still had the same ancient brick from back when text messaging was a luxury. Even though Sora had gone through many cell phones since Demyx graduated and they lost contact, he still kept his number, just in case.

"I need a solid you-owe-me."

"Don't I know it," he grunted, remembering a particular close call where Sora saved a bag of his sister's merchandise from being discovered by a campus police dog. "What's up, buttercup?"

"I need you to say I was with you last night."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, really," Sora stated, glad he was on the phone because his blush would have totally given him away. "I was just out all night and didn't get back to the condo until just now. My friends are probably out looking for me and I need an alibi. If asked, just say I was hanging out at your place and fell asleep or something."

"It shouldn't be a problem. I wasn't doing jack anyway. On one condition, though."

"Anything."

"What am I being an alibi for?"

Sora paused, mouth slightly agape. There were moments when Demyx seemed to know him better than he knew himself, and it was nothing short of unsettling, especially since they hadn't really seen each other in three years. "I was at a friend's house, it was no-"

"A friend?" Demyx asked. Sora could actually feel the smile exuding from him. "Sora Strife, the only friends you have on this island are your roomies and myself. Who was he?"

"Demyx."

"Was it Riku?"

"Demyx!"

"I knew it! You two are so cute together. I remember at the party last week you were holding his hair and hugging him after he puked and-"

Sora didn't remember anything about last Tuesday and didn't want to hear any stories. His goal of making sure that absolutely nobody ever found out about this was permanently ruined.

"No, Demyx, listen. If anybody asks just say I was at your place, okay? Don't make a big deal about it, and do not go around spreading rumors. Can you do that for me?"

"But can they really be called rumors if they're true?"

Sora felt like he was going to blow a gasket. "No! Demyx, please!"

Demyx laughed at his friend's desperate plea. "Sure, you've got my word. God, I don't get why you're making such a huge deal about this…"

"I'm not making a big deal about anything because nothing happened," Sora seethed. Demyx was still laughing. "I just need your cooperation. Can you do that?"

"Sora, you've got my word. If anybody asks, you were just crashing at my place."

The brunet sighed and checked the time on the clock in the kitchen. It was almost one in the afternoon. "Okay, I have to call Tidus and Wakka and pray that they aren't totally freaking out." He tried to calm himself down and sound as sincere as he felt. "Demyx, thanks so much."

"No problem kiddo… Your secrets have always been safe with me."

Sora didn't understand why he was so worried in the first place. He knew he could trust Demyx with something like this, just like he could trust him about keeping all the tagging, partying, drinking, and smoking he did in high school under wraps. Like a retired athlete, Sora was starting to get that itch to relive his glory days.

After ending his call with Demyx, he called Tidus, figuring he'd be the mellower of the two. Almost immediately he answered, "Hello? Sora?"

"Uh, hey, Tide. Sorry about last night, I-"

"Don't worry, it's cool. Are you at the condo right now?"

"Yeah, y'see, I was at-"

"Hey, don't sweat it brah. Do you know Zell?"

"I… uh, who?"

"Doesn't matter. The little squeeb challenged Wakka and me to a blitz against him and his drummer at the rec center. We'll prolly be back late."

"O-Oh, okay. I'll see you later, I guess." So this was it? Did they even care that he was gone?

"Is everything all right?"

Sora shook his head and tried to stay focused. Of course everything was fine, he just got off the hook. "Totally! Go and have a good time. Lemme know who wins!"

"It's gonna be us, dude. Later!"

Tidus ended the call first while Sora remained standing in the kitchen with his phone placed up against his head. He hadn't expected this sort of turn of events, and was extremely relieved, but now he found himself with nothing to do for the next few hours. Looking down at his phone, his mind instantly thought of the first person he wanted to talk to as he happily punched the numbers in.

"Riku, you'll never guess what just happened…"

~o~

The next day found Sora trotting down the boardwalk to the rental store. The bell chimed as he walked in, making Riku look up from the desk and smile widely.

"So what was so important you had to pull me away from Braveheart?"

Riku chuckled, trying to hold back the need to give the brunet a crushing hug. "It's short notice, but we got a wicked sweet deal in Bastion tonight at the Organization. They said that they liked our show at this fest we played at a couple of weeks ago, and since Coping Thunder's van broke down about a hundred miles away, they won't make it in time and they need someone to fill the stage for the night!"

Sora nodded, having never been to the Organization before. "That's pretty neat. So it's tonight, huh?"

"Yeah," Riku said with unabashed glee. "This is, like, a huge breakthrough! Having a venue actually asking for us to play. Oh my God… This is just…" He started making a snickering sound in the back of his throat and jumping around the store. "Come out with us tonight!"

Sora paused. "Well, I really want to…"

The punk's face fell. "You don't wanna go."

"No, I do, but it just seems a little weird going to Bastion, y'know, when I have friends and people there that expect me to be on… vacation or something…"

"What difference does that make?"

"Well, yanno, it doesn't make any sense for me to go back if I'm returning in a few days, right?"

Riku blinked a few times as he tried to digest that information. "Yeah. I… guess that makes sense."

"And it wouldn't be any fun anyway, right? I mean, it wouldn't be fair to you."

For another moment Riku remained silent as his eyes dashed to the corner of his view in order to think. "Oh. Ohhhh I get it. Sora, trust me. Life will be so much easier if you just come out to your friends." Of course Sora couldn't return to his hometown with Riku. If he ran into someone he knew it could be detrimental. Sora played along, quickly nodding his head with Riku's train of thought. "I guess it gets harder to change the older you get, but after a while you just stop caring. And more people start understanding your situation, right? So it doesn't really become that big of a hassle coming out to your friends to begin with. And, you know, that old saying goes: If your friends don't like your true self, then fuck 'um."

"I don't think that's how the saying goes, but okay. I think I get the point," Sora replied with a nod.

"It's gonna be a great set," Riku sighed with a tempting smirk. "Are you sure you don't want to go?"

"I don't even know how it'll be a great set because you've been spending all your time with me and not your bandmates. When do you get time for practice?"

"Somewhere between kissing and boning," Riku replied, his smirk spreading to a lecherous grin. "I still have a couple of hours before I have to leave for the city."

"Oh do you, now?" Sora said wryly. He had no trouble being intimate with Riku as long as it was in private. The brunet stepped closer and placed his hands on the hem of the punk's frayed jeans. "What time do you get off work?"

"However long it takes for Zell to come in after I call faking sick…" he playfully muttered into Sora's ear, slipping him the keys to his house.

~o~

The nervous excitement in the Greek restaurant was almost as palatable as the fancy pizzas they served.

"So wicked," Xigbar sighed, sitting with his bandmates at a nice booth, with a tablecloth and crystal glasses and everything. "How much did we make tonight?"

"Enough CDs to pay for a meal and gas on the way home," Axel said happily. "Although we really need someone to help us with the merch. We need a merch girl."

"Yeah, it kind of sucks having to make people stay the entire set to buy an album," Marluxia sighed, rubbing his finger around the lip of the glass, making a low ringing sound. Of course, he'd ideally want people to stay for the whole set, but until they reached that point they would need someone to help them out. "Keeping a box on stage and having to stop between songs for people who want to buy an EP… It's kind of lame, Riku..."

Riku rolled his eyes and picked up a complimentary half of pita. "Don't panic. I'm sure there's tons of people willing to help us out back at the harbor."

"I think that's a problem with you," Luxord said with his wonderful sense of criticism. "We can't stay in the harbor forever." Riku perked at this and gave Luxord a questionable look.

"The bank decided to give Lux a loan," Marluxia elaborated, taking a deep breath. This was a talk they had been putting off for a few days. "We… at least the two of us, have decided to move to Bastion in a few months. Once we find an apartment or something." Xigbar nodded along, seeming to say he was planning on going with them when the time came to pack up and move out. The drummer rolled his eyes and stopped playing with his glass, taking a sip of the cheap white box wine.

"So soon?" Riku whined. "We can't keep the band together if you guys are in Bastion."

"Well then move to Bastion," Xigbar chastised. "We've been talking about this move forever. Isn't the lease on your house up in a few months anyway? This would be the best chance for you to finally leave."

"Well, yeah, but Axel and I made plans that I would move into his place and-"

"I know we made plans," Axel said, "but guess who's in Bastion… Soraaaa…"

Almost immediately Riku's face started to heat up under the scrutiny of his friends. Axel and he were like brothers, and his other bandmates were like very close cousins. Sora's inability to confront their relationship publicly was starting to have an effect on him.

"So how are things going between you and the blue-eyed wonder?" Marluxia asked, taking another sip of wine with a curious bend of his eyebrow. "You missed practice the other night. What were you up to?"

"Don't be sick," Axel grunted, reaching across the table and poking the drummer in the shoulder. "If Riku doesn't want to talk about his steamy affair with Sora then we shouldn't make him."

"Shut up," Riku grunted, giving his right-hand-man a swift kick to the shin. "And it's not an affair because Sora's not married."

"So he admits it," Xigbar added with a sneer. "But wait, isn't he supposed to be going home in, like, three days?"

"So?"

"So," Luxord continued with a bit of laughter, "what do you think? Is he going to stay with you?" Xigbar could sense where this conversation was headed and was immediately brought back to one of their longer-term bets.

"Yeah, I mean you guys are gonna end it, right?" the guitarist asked, planting the idea in Riku's head.

"Or are you going to stay with him, creating a strong, long-distance relationship that will only make your reunion that much more meaningful?" Luxord gave his friend the side-eye. Letting him know that he wasn't going to let him win without a fight.

"Ugh, seriously guys, I think we're doing fine. Just don't tell him I said that. We're not supposed to really be, y'know, out." Riku felt like he was digging his own grave. His friends weren't supposed to know about this. He blew his bangs out of his face and took a good look around the restaurant. "This place is kinda dead, you think? I want more water."

"I want more wine," Marluxia slurred, raising his glass.

"These are really soft napkins," Luxord commented. "What are these made from? Do you think they'd notice if a few went missing?"

"This is really soft wood," Xigbar added, smiling crookedly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a butterfly knife. "Do you think they'd notice a few extra nicks?"

"Whoa! Xig, put that away," Riku cried in a hushed whisper. "We don't want to be kicked out, right?"

"Please, this is just some shitty Greek hole," Axel rolled his eyes. The restaurant was probably a nice place to eat… in the nineties. Now it seemed a shadow of what it used to be. There was even a sign in front of the shopping center talking about a huge renovation planned for the whole block. "Hey, write down 'Destiny Harbor or Bust.'" Before Riku had a chance to get his motley crew under control, Xigbar was already at work carving into the wall beside him.

"Guys, I really don't feel comfortable with this…"

"Come on, it's not like anybody from the kitchen can see us," Axel drawled, pointing behind them to add emphasis that their seats were in a total blind spot from the chefs, and there weren't enough patrons at the moment to warrant staff to walk around constantly.

"How about a little heart? With 'Sora plus Riku' inside of it," Marluxia said with a giggle.

"No, no hearts," Riku insisted, hiding his eyes behind his hand. "Please put the knife away…"

"Fine, no hearts, Mister Ambiguity. Just make it simple. SS plus RK," Marluxia ordered, and Xigbar went straight to work on his next masterpiece. The pink-haired man turned his attention back to Riku and told him to calm down. "It's really no big deal, this place will probably be torn down in a month. I doubt someone as rich as Sora eats in dives like this anyway."

Riku paused and tapped the side of his glass. "Do you wonder if maybe he's eaten here before?"

"Honestly? No," Luxord sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Well, now I wish we could see the kitchen. Where's our fucking food?"

"They're holding out on us because we're defacing property," Xigbar commented offhandedly, continuing to carve the last line in the 'K'.

Marluxia started laughing slightly louder, the effects of the wine starting to take its toll. He nudged Riku in the ribs in a bid to get him to relax quicker. "Geez you're so high strung. Don't worry, ten bucks says they won't do anything about it."

Luxord glanced past Marluxia, Riku, and Axel who were facing the wall of the restaurant towards the front door. Riku didn't like the slightly worried crinkle in his bassist's brow. "…Care to shake on it?"

"Seriously?" Riku balked. In the silence of the empty restaurant he could hear footsteps approaching their table from behind, and it definitely didn't sound like an awkward student waitress delivering a late order. The sound of a hand radio buzzing in the background wasn't helping.

"Would you gentlemen like to explain what you're-"

Before the man's voice could finish Xigbar had withdrawn his knife into his pocket and jumped from his chair, knocking it over in a horrible scene and running out the door. The band was left nearly awestruck about their guitarist's wonderful performance, and Riku turned slightly to look at the officer that had approached them. He wasn't wearing a uniform and didn't even have a badge, but he was probably wearing civilian clothes of jeans and a plaid shirt on purpose or on-call. Riku took a moment to gauge the man's face. He didn't seem extremely angry, just expecting an explanation. The worst they could get away with was some slaps on the wrist and maybe a small fine. There went their extra cash from album sales.

"I'm sorry, my friend was just-"

And once again, their conversation was cut off when everyone at the table panicked and sprinted towards the door. The officer was apparently making no effort to stop the youths from getting away. Marluxia was still laughing hysterically.

"Guys!"

"You said it yourself!" the drummer said, poking his head inside for one last word. "We're nothing in this town! They probably don't even know our name!" One of the guys must have grabbed the intoxicated man and pulled him away, because in an instant the pink mop of hair was gone, but not before hitting his chin on the doorframe.

Riku gulped and looked at the officer, trying to put on his most charming smile. "Look, I'm really sorry, it was my friend. Please don't think all kids are like this, I told him to stop, but-"

"I don't really care, honestly," the man explained, pointing to the table over his shoulder near the opposite corner where a young woman was sitting. "I was just taking a break to have dinner with my wife when I saw what your friend was up to. I don't take kindly to graffiti 'artists' like y'all. Ya see, I'm a construction worker. I'm actually tearing down the face of this place in a month." At least Marluxia was right about one thing. "I guess you'll understand why I get upset when I see people defacing something that took someone a lot of effort to get together."

"Yes sir," Riku said with a little more ease. At least this guy wasn't a cop. When he listened more closely to the sounds coming from the device on the man's hip, it was just a walky-talky spewing jargon from a construction site nearby. "I'll be sure to let them know."

The man nodded before walking back to the table with his wife. "Okay! Order up! Who got the… Hey, where is everyone?" a slightly miffed and very weighed-down waitress asked as she balanced five pizzas on two platters. After Riku told her where to put everything, he figured he should call his friends to herd them back into the restaurant. Instead, he decided to call someone he thought would enjoy the story much more.

"…Sora?" he asked with a smirkish grin, holding up his cell to his ear. "Yeah. You'll never guess what just happened…"

~o~

Perhaps there wasn't a better sight than having Sora under him. The brunet had his arms wrapped around Riku's shoulders and pulled him in for a wet kiss. It was like they hadn't seen each other just yesterday.

"So," Sora started conversationally while making quick work of taking Riku's shirt off, "how was your show?"

Riku pulled back to finish taking his tee off himself, being sure to grind a little bit rougher on his perch on Sora's lap. "Amazing," he grunted. "Show director gave us a contact. There were people there that definitely weren't just voyeurs. Some kids showed up that were only there to see us play after hearing about us from their friends at the harbor. Pretty tight."

"Mmm. That's not the only thing that's pretty tight," Sora replied with a devilish smirk of his own. He grabbed Riku's broad shoulders and flipped them around. The musician changed his mind and decided that maybe this was a much better view. Sora leaned down to kiss him while taking his belt off at the same time. Riku would have been jealous wondering how Sora got so good at this if he weren't so turned on.

"God, I love it when you do this," Sora groaned, looking down at Riku's unzipped jeans. The punk assumed it must have been from going commando, although he didn't want to tell him he did it because he assumed this is the position they'd end up in when meeting up. He took Riku's half-hard erection into his hand and started playing with it to make it wake up fully. With clenched eyes Riku moaned and grabbed the collar of Sora's shirt, blindingly pulling the brunet down and smashing their lips together.

"Sora, c'mon," he begged as he found himself thrusting into his hand against his will. He had never had a hand job this brilliant before, or maybe it was just the simple fact that Sora was doing this all for him. The younger man hummed and took his hand away, starting to pull Riku's jeans down a little farther. The sudden cold seemed to have a particularly agonizing effect on the whining punk. "Hurry!" he whimpered. He didn't seem satisfied until Sora slipped a finger inside him.

"Tell me when you're ready," Sora replied in a hushed, calming voice. Riku confirmed that he was more than ready by grabbing Sora's shoulders and crushing them in his fists. Sora's deep breathing came out with a raspy chuckle in an attempt to bite back his own pain. While the punk seemed distracted enough the brunet slipped another finger inside him. Riku cringed and pulled back slightly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, keep going," he panted. The musician removed his arms from Sora's shoulders and decided it would be easier to grip the sheets instead. He was caught off guard when the brunet leaned down and kissed him while he was readjusting. It was much easier to relax under Sora's care and felt like he wasn't expected to do anything. When he was on top of Sora he couldn't help but feel pressured by this need to perform well to impress him. Now that he was the underdog he found himself simply not caring whether or not Sora's performance would be stellar. He only cared about being with him in this special way, and it seemed like it had nothing to do with the sex at all. Maybe this was the big difference between a sex friend and a boyfriend.

Riku smiled at the idea with this newfound sense of calmness and finally loosened up. Sora removed his fingers slowly and fished the back pocket of his pants for his wallet, pulling out one of the condoms they didn't use from last time. He ripped open the wrapper and slipped it on quickly, situating himself at the punk's entrance. "O-okay. Are you ready?" His voice was so tense, but somehow Riku managed to overcome that and just smile and nod. Sora gulped and looked down, as if he would miss the mark, and made sure he was sliding in slowly and easily. Whatever pain Riku might have felt was being taken out on the sheets. When Sora looked up at him, he seemed perfectly happy with this large, honest smile that he didn't recall seeing on him except when he finished singing a song. "Okay, let's get started…"

~o~

The bell chimed and announced the entrance of another loyal customer. "Shalom little buddy. What's new?" Demyx asked as he approached Axel at the front counter of the rental store. The magenta-haired man looked up and glanced over his shoulder. When Demyx came in asking about new arrivals, he usually meant what had been returned to the store most recently. Those videos were usually kept stacked on the back counter until someone got up the energy to shelve them.

"We got… Cats Don't Dance, Superbad… Enemy of the State, Great Train Robbery, and Black Sheep."

Demyx frowned slightly and let out an overdramatic sigh. "No Brothers of the Head?" he asked with a pout. Axel shook his head and rolled his chair over to the main computer, typing in the movie's name to the main network.

"Nope. Still says it's checked out."

"This bites. Who on God's green harbor would wanna watch that movie anyway?"

"That's privileged information and I'm too lazy to log in. Anything else I can hook you up with instead?"

Demyx shook his head, leaning backwards against the counter and giving the store a sweeping glance. "Nah, I was really banking on watching that movie today. I guess I'll just have to hang out here," he sighed, tightening his grip on the counter so he could hoist himself up and take a seat. "I've already seen all these movies before anyway…"

"Every time you visit you borrow Brothers," Axel reminded, rolling his eyes for good measure even though Demyx couldn't see with his back facing him. "How about something a little bit happier? That one's so grim."

"Oh, what, like something from the kid's section?"

"I'm just saying a little bit of Disney never killed a person," Axel sighed as he wheeled away from the computer to return back to what he was doing before the blond-haired punk arrived, the daily crossword. It never ceased to stun his friends how quickly he could list five-letter nouns that started with D, and other feats that were necessary to finishing the puzzle.

Just as a healthy silence settled between the two, the door opened and rang, and in walked two familiar faces. "Tidus, Wakka!" Demyx greeted happily. "What brings y'all here?"

"Returning movies," Tidus supplied, pointing to Wakka who was carrying a rather large stack in his hands. The redhead walked up to the counter and placed the movies in front of Axel so he could check them in. "And I hate to ask around again, but have you guys seen Sora at all?"

"Why?" Demyx asked cautionary while Axel was busy with work. He remembered his promise to Sora the other day about covering for him, but wasn't sure if this included nights passed that one time. "Did he come home?"

"Yeah, he got back late last night and apparently left before either of us woke up in the morning. Which is impressive, I guess… for Sora, anyway."

"And the idiot left his cell in his room, again," Wakka sighed. "Kairi's been calling off the hook. I guess he hasn't been keeping in touch with her… She's probably curious about how his trip's going."

"So yeah, any information at all would really help us out a lot."

"So who's Kairi? The kid's sister?" Axel asked as he was checking in movies. While sorting through the films his eyebrow peaked and he held up a rogue DVD case. "Oi, 'Myx, look at this."

Demyx knew that he should be absolutely ecstatic that the Brothers of the Head was finally returned, but something wasn't clicking for him. "…I didn't think Sora had a sister," he tested, knowing full well that he didn't.

Wakka rolled his eyes. "Gross, Kairi isn't his sister, she's his girl."

Axel stopped checking in movies and seemed totally delighted while Demyx tried to stop his jaw from dropping in abject horror. Wakka and Tidus weren't entirely sure what to make of this reaction.

"So let me get this straight," Axel said between a toothy grin. "Sora has a girlfriend back in Bastion?" To himself he thought that this was probably why the brunet had been a wet blanket to Riku's invitation to the show in Bastion last night.

"Well, kind of more than that, I guess," Tidus said, shrugging. "She's his fiancée."

That was infinitely worse. Axel and Demyx immediately made eye contact with the same 'oh shit' written all over their faces.

Axel was the first to react. "…Does Luxord know?"

Tidus stuttered for a moment. By now after two weeks around this awkward alternative harbor lifestyle he was used to this punk rocker types acting up around him. "Uh… No? I don't… Who's Luxord?"

The magenta-haired man shrugged and grinned regardless. "I'll take my chances. Demyx, take over for me. I gotta go see my bookie." Axel patted the disturbed blonde on the back as he walked around the counter and left the store without another word. If he found Luxord quickly he'd be able to place a bet that Riku's relationship was about to go up in flames and earn back every dollar that scuzzy bassist robbed from him twice over. Unfortunately poor Demyx had never worked at the video store and eyed the pile of half-checked-in movies, wondering how he was supposed to do this.

Shaking his head, Demyx turned back to the two tourists. "Sora… So, Sora has a fiancée, huh?" Demyx's voice laughed hesitantly over the f-word, voice cracking and he tried to cover it up by clearing his throat. This hurt more than he expected it to. Why didn't Sora tell him anything anymore? Tidus and Wakka were always easily freaked out, he had to be sure not to sound too desperate for information.

"Yeah," Tidus replied with a sigh. "Sounds like a real peach, y'know? The whole reason why Sora's here is for some elaborate bachelor's party on her part."

"In reality, she just wanted him out of the way while she was preparing for the wedding."

"W-Wedding? There's a date, huh?"

Tidus shrugged. "Yeah, I forget, though. In a week, maybe two. The Strife boys move fast…" He looked towards Wakka for any sign of him knowing the date, but the redhead just shook his head. "Anyway, do you know where he is?"

"Ah, no- no…" Demyx drawled, shaking his head. "I, um… No, sorry. I'd help, but I kinda gotta stay here now." He pointed to the movies and motioned towards the store that he had to look over while Axel was away.

"Okay, well thanks anyway," Tidus sighed, following Wakka's lead to leave the store. "I don't know if we'll see you again before we leave tomorrow morning. If not, it was nice running into you again. Good luck with school."

Although there was a sense of superficial-ness about him, Tidus was always the more sincere of the two. "Same to you, brah. Hope you find 'em."

Before Wakka could open the door, Zell stepped in. "Oh, heya guys. Good game the other day. Raijin and I were just talking about it." He looked up and noticed Demyx standing behind the front counter. "Ah, hey dude. I left a movie here I wanted to check out last night. The U2 concert vid?"

"You like U2?" Tidus asked, thinking he was the only one. While he had Zell's attention he figured he may as well ask. "Oh, and hey, we're looking for Sora again. You wouldn't have seen him around while you were out today, would you?"

"Sorry brah, not since a few days ago. I'd check with Ri-" Zell was interrupted by violent coughing coming from Demyx. When he turned to make sure he was okay, the mohwaked punk was making a vague slashing gesture over his neck. "Ri… Rinoa. I'd check with Rinoa, the chick at the music store."

"The music store?"

"Yeah, right down the block, around the corner," Zell described, motioning abstractly towards the bay. "That'd be my first bet."

Tidus nodded and grinned. "Well, thanks for the help. Maybe if we stop by we'll meet up again."

Zell nodded and waved goodbye. The door chimed as the two men walked out, and he turned to Demyx. "So what was that-"

"I need to find Sora before they do," Demyx said quickly, hopping over the counter and pointing towards the pile of movies. "Finish checking those in and hold Brothers of the Head for me, alright?"

Before Zell could ask any more questions, the punk was out the door and running the opposite way down the boardwalk, towards Riku's house. As he sprinted the entire six blocks to the old address a million thoughts raced through his mind. Sora had never really come out and said that he was doing anything with Riku, but at the same time it was obvious he should have been told that he was getting fucking married. In any case he felt that he should hear some sort of story straight from the horse's mouth. Picking up too many habits from the bleached-haired musician, Demyx jumped over the chain-linked fence surrounding the large garden backyard and rushed to the sliding glass door that led to Riku's entertainment room. He could see television lights flashing inside as he knocked loudly on the glass.

"Dude!" he heard Riku shout from inside. "It's open!" Without further fanfare, Demyx slid the door open and saw Sora cuddled next to Riku, with the punk's arm wrapped around him leisurely as they were watching one of the many videos on temporary loan from the rental shop. Once Demyx sounded like he wasn't dying from gasping for air, Riku spoke, "What's up?"

"You!" Demyx cried, pointing to the brunet. "I need to talk to you. Now! Outside. Privately."

Sora curled an eyebrow and glanced from the movie to Riku sitting next to him, letting Demyx know that he was interrupting something. "Sure, I guess. Is everything alright?" he asked as he stood and walked over Riku's legs that were resting on the coffee table in front of them. Demyx didn't leave any room for explanation as he forcefully shoved the young man out the door. "What the hell?" his friend cried, although Demyx knew that now wasn't a time to be placid. He slammed the sliding door shut and turned to Sora angrily.

"No, what the fuck? Sora!" he said in a hoarse whisper. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"What did I do to you?"

"You didn't do jack shit to me! What did you do to him?" Demyx asked. "You're running around for the past two weeks with your dick wagging out boning some rock star when you're getting married?!" There was a hollow blue anger in Demyx's eyes that Sora had never seen before. "What's wrong with you?"

"…Who told you?" Although it was a stupid question, because of course Demyx knew Wakka and Tidus and since Riku seemed to know everyone on the harbor it was only a matter of time until someone found out. He was just hoping it could have waited until after he left.

"It doesn't matter! Why didn't you tell him? Riku's not like that! He doesn't do one-night stands like you do. He actually likes you! What were you thinking?"

"Look, it's nothing, alright? He knew I was leaving in a few days anyway. He couldn't have possibly thought that this would've worked out between us anyway, right?" Sora tried to reason to calm Demyx down. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning. It's no big deal, Demyx. Breathe."

"What?" Demyx wanted to scream, but it came out as an exasperated grunt. "Sora, I don't think you get this. This is low. Don't think you can just fuck with someone on your bachelor retreat like this…"

Sora was sort of appalled that Demyx would think so lowly of him, but it wasn't as if he was giving his old friend much of a reason to think highly. "Listen, I'll tell him, all right? I'll apologize. It's… it's not like I want this to happen either, you know?"

Demyx paused for a moment. "So you want to stay with him?"

"…I can't," Sora sighed. At the sound of Demyx getting his feathers ruffled again, the young man held up his hand. "I can't… I love Kairi… Riku's amazing, but… You don't get it. After going on throughout high school and college like an invincible teenager with my head in the clouds I've finally found a reason worth living, and it's her. I-I've only known Riku for a few days…"

His old friend sighed and leaned against the adobe material used to layer the outside of the house, slowly sliding down until he was sitting on the grass. "You really dig this girl that much? I guess a lot's changed since high school, Sora." Demyx rested his arms on his knees and focus on his hands. He thought back to everything they'd been through together when his best friend was still in high school, and perhaps now that he thought about it that way, it all made sense. "…Maybe nothing's really changed at all," he muttered.

"Don't put it that way," Sora grumbled, kneeling before him. "She's special. I can't really think of a better way to describe her. She's really smart, funny… I think you'd like her."

Demyx looked up at Sora and gave him an uneasy frown. He didn't even want to imagine what his fiancèe would think about all this. "I'm not the one you should be convincing." He sighed and stood up, wiping the grass and dirt from his bum. What was most important was caring about his friend Riku before putting the feelings of some girl he'd never met into consideration. "You can't leave without saying something to him, first. You really fucked up, man. He…" Demyx bit his lip, probably about to say more that he should, "he likes you."

His emotions were getting harder and harder to process. There was excitement in his stomach, but was it for getting caught, or… for finding out Riku's feelings were a lot deeper than Sora had thought. Of course they both liked each other or Sora wouldn't have let it go this far, but perhaps hearing someone else say it, acknowledge the feelings that had manifested into actions, made it seem more real.

Sora sighed heavily and buried his face in his hands. Demyx shuffled and started making his way back to the fence. "Talk to me once this is all over, 'kay?" Sora nodded absently and watched as Demyx shook his head in disappointment, jumping over the chain-link fence.

After a moment by himself, Sora slid the glass door open and noticed that the movie was still playing, but Riku wasn't on the couch. He followed the light shining in from the kitchen in the next room and found him leaning against the counter. His arms were crossed and his jaw sticking forward slightly, his eyes kept a steely gaze out the small window.

"…Riku?" Sora asked, trying to hide the hesitancy in his voice. "What's up? The movie's still playing but-"

"Oh my god."

The punks voice was shaking, barely above a whisper. Sora feared for the worse. "…What was that?"

"I can't believe you just- I can't do this- You… cheated on me! No- you used me to cheat!"

Sora felt the color fall from his face. Riku knew. "…You eavesdropped?"

"For the love of God, Sora. It was a glass door not a sound proof booth. Is it true?" When he didn't reply, Riku didn't know whether to break down or scream. He chose the latter. "Sora!"

"Riku, honestly, I tried to tell you, but I just couldn't! You made it too difficult!"

"You're getting married and you didn't think to tell the guy you were hitting on about it?"

Sora felt his jaw tremble. "I wasn't the one who started it! You were the one that cornered me in the music store, you were the one that kept giving me gifts and showing up dressed like…" Sora paused to point at Riku's tight shirt and skinny jeans, "-like that! You were the one that jumped off stage and kissed me. You were the one that showed up in my bedroom and fucked me!"

Riku shook his head. Unbelievable. He was feeling pretty certain that Sora was the one fucking him over the entire time. No matter what, he refused to let Sora blame Riku for following his emotions. "You don't do that, Sora. You deliberately led me on! I… had sex with you because I thought you lov-" Riku cut himself off and glared holes into the linoleum floors, his cheeks puffy and red. "I thought you liked me… That's just fucking sick!"

Sora had never really stopped to consider just what sex meant to Riku. To Sora, sex was more of a formality to start a relationship rather than something that happened after numerous dates. Given that he had only really known the punk for about a week before they had done it, he figured that it must have been a hook-up amongst friends rather than anything really worth getting upset over.

"Don't act so high-and-mighty. If everyone in the harbor knows you're gay that means you must have some kind of reputation following you," Sora accused.

Riku replied angrily, each word becoming louder than the last. "Everybody in the harbor knows I'm gay because I stand up for what I believe in and don't hide in closets with girls!"

When did it become a shouting match? Sora blamed Riku because he raised his voice first. Sora had blamed a lot of things on Riku, even though he was wrong.

"Don't talk about her that way!"

"How can you honestly love someone and cheat on them just like that?" Riku tried not to think of reversing the question. How could Sora treat Riku so nicely and simply leave? The question was too bitter and made his heart clench. It was all lies, anyway. Sora obviously never loved him.

But Riku…

"You don't know our relationship," Sora said. His relationship with Kairi wasn't black and white. He hesitated to call it complicated, but they had a system. They had a series of rules that they had to follow if what they'd been working for was going to happen. The first rule was always tell the truth. Sora clenched his eyes shut and cursed his own name for being such a coward. He had to go home soon. Pack his bags and leave that night. He had to go home and confess.

…Riku loved him.

"I…" the singer eked out, frowning deeply.

"What? If you've got something to say, just say it while I'm standing here. While you still have time." Sora didn't like the way his voice sounded. It was heavy with disappointment, completely aimed at himself. Not at getting caught, but that this really might be the last time he'll ever see Riku. He knew it was going to happen, but saying it made it more real, and more painful. He loved Kairi, but Riku…

"S-Stay with me!" Riku cried out, his own words echoing throughout the kitchen and into the rest of the house as if mocking him. Sora remained standing in the entryway staring at the punk as if he were insane. "I know this must have meant something to you! If you love me, stay with me! Marry me instead!"

"Riku…"

"Fuck just- nevermind. It sounded less stupid in my head."

The tears were starting to well up in the corner of Riku's eyes.

"Riku."

"God, just-" He squeezed his eyes shut and the tears started trickling their way down. Once they started, they wouldn't stop. "Sometimes I just… want someone to be real, and you were so real to me. I thought… maybe… you felt the same…"

"Riku, I…" Sora bridged the gap between them and buried his fingers into Riku's scalp, pulling the punk's head down so their foreheads touched lightly. "Shh… Shh… I am so sorry, but…"

Riku hiccupped and clenched his jaw. Although Sora was so incredibly close and tangible he was still worlds away. And as much as Riku tried to fight it, it would always be like this.

Sora knew, in any other time, at any other place, the answer would have been yes. Instead, he held Riku close and breathed in the salty smell of his hair one last time.

"…I can't…"

oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo

Riku took another long puff from his pipe and turned his head towards the corner of the room, as if releasing the poisonous smoke away from Roxas was doing the poor man a service.

The blond remained rooted his chair, utterly speechless. It felt like everything that had been going wrong in his life had finally started to make sense. He couldn't believe all this information about his brother. On occasion he had to resist the urge to interrupt, because he felt like he should know his own brother better than some washed-up never-been. However, it seemed to answer everything, from Sora's past awkwardness in high school and presently to the way Axel's friends had treated him when they first learned his lineage. He waited for Riku to continue, but the older man remained sitting listlessly and staring vacantly towards one of the windows with the broken blinds.

"…And then what happened?" Roxas asked, almost afraid to break the silence between them. Riku blinked and glanced slightly towards Roxas, turning his eyes away to stare at the smoke rising up from his small ceramic pipe.

"Well… Sora left, obviously… We… Axel and I had a falling out because I found out he went to Lux to make a bet against me instead of telling me to begin with. Of course, I was pissed at Lux and Xigbar, too. Marly got mad at me for being angry at Lux. It started this whole inner band fight," Riku slurred, waving his hand lazily. "Eventually, Lux and Marly got the loan from the bank to start their little garden gallery and they moved to Bastion. Axel and Xig followed close behind. The lease was up on the house, and I rode out the last of Axe's rent in his vacated apartment until I signed up again and…" He vaguely motioned to the room around them. "…Here I am."

Roxas paused to look at the unhealthy state the apartment was in. "Here you are," he sighed. "But… I know Axel still really cares about you. Did you two ever make up?"

"I know he wants things to settle, but…" Riku sighed, hating that he couldn't finish a simple sentence. "No. I'm a bitter old man. I'm willing to let this go on until I die."

Roxas would have thought the man was teasing, but the smirk on his face was too bitter and defeated. "But you mentioned earlier… You said that life was worth living if you got out and did something. You encouraged Sora to find a major and finish college. He has a job now and everything!"

"Including a nice, happy wife?"

Roxas closed his mouth to keep himself from talking back. After another few moments of silence, save for the rain pelting against the glass pane of the windows, Roxas decided to keep going. "So you never made up with anyone from the band?"

"Oh, they still drop by every now and again," Riku sighed. "But once they left, the rest of the gang went with them. Seifer and Squall quit so they could move to Bastion to find work and 'further their education,' so they said. Raijin left for school. Zell's gone more often than not trying to find a band..."

"He did find one…"

"Oh?"

"He's in another metal group called Demo Ammo with Raijin on drums. The frontman is this guy named Irvine."

Riku frowned slightly. "Never heard of him." Roxas could see the look in eyes about how unnerving it was to not know someone, especially when you used to know everybody. "…Anyway, yeah. Once everyone left there wasn't really any reason for the kids to stay. Of course the harbor gets its little pick-me-up during the summer, but it'll never be the same."

"Then why are you still here? Riku, you don't belong in the harbor…"

"Of course I belong here," Riku said, turning to Roxas and squinting his eyes like he was stupid. "It's everyone else who bailed. It's Bastion where everyone hates me."

So this was it, Roxas discovered. Riku was trapped. He didn't have a home to return to. He couldn't go to Bastion because that was where his old band and Sora were. But Roxas easily understood that Riku couldn't stay at the harbor because it was slowly killing him inside.

"Look at yourself," Roxas stated evenly. "You had your entire life ahead of you but you blew it all on cocaine and beer. You're just scared of the fact that you're not on top anymore. You feel like you don't have your band to depend on, but they still miss you, Riku."

"Bullshit. If they cared about me they wouldn't be mad at me," Riku mumbled, and his complete and total ignorance was starting to grate on the young blond.

"Bullshit! If you really wanted a better life for yourself you would have gone for it yourself and left with them one year ago!" Roxas stood and grabbed the pipe out of Riku's hand, hurling it across the room and watched as it shattered into dozens of tiny pieces and the smoke fizzled away into nothingness.

"What the fuck?" Riku cried, suddenly very awake and fuming. "That was a gift!"

"It must not have been from a very good friend," Roxas muttered. "You need to get cleaned up and you need to do it now. Throw your shit away and go to Bastion. Find Axel and just talk to him. The band is straightedge now, at least no more drugs." Roxas paused and gritted his teeth, still remembering bits and pieces of last night rolling around in his mind. "I'm not going to stay here and make it happen for you. You've got to do this yourself. Don't do it for me, or Sora, or Axel."

Giving one last look around the dilapidated apartment, Roxas sighed and walked towards the door. He didn't know if he left a mark in the man's life, but he hoped there was enough will left in him to see the right path. As he opened the door and let the sound of the rain hitting the ground below really fill the apartment with noise, he glanced back at Riku and saw the man staring blankly at the wall, probably too burnt out from the weed to even think anymore. Perhaps his entire trip here was utterly useless. Roxas didn't say anything as he shut the door behind him and tried to find Hayner's car in the parking lot downstairs.

Having to knock on the door so his friend would unlock it, Hayner quickly pulled up his seat that he had reclined while waiting for the blonde to return.

"So… Did you get what you were looking for?" he asked as he turned the key for Roxas' car to start. Roxas shook the excess rain off his sleeves and stared gloomily out the window to the grayscale harbor.

"Just drive."

It all started that one day when I had nothing more to say to you so I ran the other way.
Love is for morons, but who's this fucking idiot that I see staring right back at me?
Will someone tell me what's right or wrong anymore?
Cause everywhere I go I wonder what I'm searching for.
I think of all the times I've thought of you and masturbated.
All this pre-teen shit has got me so frustrated!
Don't turn around cause there's nothing more for you back there.
I'd send a postcard, but it'd say how much that I don't care.
I'm going east to say the least, to see The Queers, how true.
I'll be at the Neilhouse but I'll be without you!
Don't try to tell me you can't have any fun.
You played me for a fucking fool but now you get to be one.
...Don't go.

Neilhouse - The Ataris

xxxXXXxxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

*deep breath* so this is the longest chapter of the series. The bonus stuff that I'm working on is also ridiculously long but it'll probably be cut up into digestible chunks. I feel bad that the chapter was as long as it was, it could have easily been split into two pieces but for some reason I really wanted it to be three chapters…

So with the end of the b-sides, we're now back in the present with Roxas! The bits of dialogue in the first two b-sides are things that are happening while Riku is telling his story. We know that the last bit of dialogue is Axel. The rest may or may not become more relevant in the coming chapters.

A couple things from this chapter -
- "'Don't I know it,' he grunted, remembering a particular close call where Sora saved a bag of his sister's merchandise from being discovered by a campus police dog." [This will be elaborated on in the bonus chapters]
- "His relationship with Kairi wasn't black and white. He hesitated to call it complicated, but they had a system." [I only said it in so many words because I wasn't sure how much to give away, but I don't think it really matters. Sora and Kairi have an mutual open relationship, which affects how Sora feels about sleeping with Riku in this chapter. More on how this relationship started and how Kairi reacts to Riku will also be in the bonus chapters.]

In gaming news, I FINALLY BEAT BIRTH BY SLEEP ON FRIDAY! Man I've never been more attached to a fighting system in a game before. BbS was something else, just perfect. The only trouble I really had with it was figuring out which direction the magic/attack commands would scroll during a fight. I kept having to tell my self "this button brings at attack up and this button pushes an attack down" before going into a boss fight because I would always get distracted scrolling through attacks and then die. AQUA IS SO COOL JESUS FUCK. I'm all about her. My brand. Terra's so rad and Ven's so cute. The story was delightfully not incredibly complicated. I watched all of re:Coded last night and like didn't understand 87% of what the hell was going on. I have questions about the second secret bonus ending - When did it take place? It seems like it'd have been not long after baby Nort was found by Ansem since everyone is still young and in their BbS outfits, but then there's Axel and Siax in their Org uniforms laying on the floor? Is this like a Dream Drop Distance thing? I'm charging my gameboy right now so I'll probably start playing it something this week. (So, I hope it goes without saying, but please don't spoil anything about 3D if you have an answer. Just like, nod and wink or something and I'll get it ;_;)

SO THERE YOU GO. SORA DONE BIDOOFED. How will this knowledge affect Roxas? Will he ever be able to see his brother the same way ever again? We'll see. I still have lots of work to do on the bonus stuff, and I'm getting close to the point where I have/want to awkwardly email my old beta that helped me with Ballad back in the day and see if she won't mind editing the new stuff. If it turns out she can't, I'll need to find a new beta T_T So for now, the next update will be MAY 18th.

(also keep an eye out later tonight I'm gonna have a new 8tracks playlist with my ballad!soriku mix! there'll be a link in my profile page…)

PLEASE REVIEW! I know you worked really hard to finish reading this chapter and I worked really hard editing it, so the best way to celebrate is to REVIEW! Follow/Fav! You guys were so nice to me last update, please continue giving such awesome support!