[If this wasn't worth the wait, I don't know what is. Lol. Thank you for the reviews again & I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Pandoragirl- Thank you! I'm glad that I was able to make it more realistic!]

Sora backed against the wall, his mind numb. The rancid smell was filling his nose and lungs, stinging his eyes fiercely. He retreated to his room, barely holding himself together.

He was broken. Riku was gone and he had left him for dead. He had been right the whole time. Sora had been too naïve. His knees buckled and he collapsed into a corner, his body shuddering with sobs.

The sight of Riku torn ripped Sora's heart apart. He couldn't get his stone cold façade out of his head. He remembered what he had shouted to him only days before, claiming that Riku was the only one hurting him.

He had never paused to think that maybe he was hurting Riku.

He wiped his runny nose and placed his head in his hands, crying, not caring if his dad could hear him or not. His dad.

He was drinking again. Why else would that smell reek through the entire house? He had lied, but then why did Sora feel the urge to go comfort him? Was it because Riku was gone, so he no longer had anyone to run to?

He stumbled to his feet, his tears obscuring his vision, and he slowly made his way back down the hall.

He didn't understand what he was doing or why he was doing it. He had been betrayed and yet, here he was, returning like an obedient dog to his dad.

He tapped the door slightly with his knuckles and heard a muffled voice.

He mixed fear with common sense. It was undoubtedly stupid to even be in the same house as his father after he had been drinking, but Sora wasn't thinking straight.

He opened the door, dazed, and felt a pair of rough hands grab the back of his neck.

He gasped, his senses returning, and he began kicking his legs. A fist collided into his mouth, spraying blood. He closed his eyes, tears clinging to his eyelashes as he accepted the beating. It was his fault that his dad drank, his fault that Riku had run off.

He deserved to be punished. Old words buzzed through his mind.

'Don't understand why they like you. You're pathetic, worthless…'

He refused to open his eyes while his dad hit him, refusing to look into his dark eyes that looked so pained before. The eyes that were now bloodshot and set to kill.

The next thing he knew, he was hurled into the hallway, into the wall, smacking his jaw. Dazed, he scratched at the wall, attempting to escape.

He heard a roar behind him. "What did I tell you? That damn kid was asking for it. Now he's gone, cause he never liked you anyways."

Sora fell to his hands and knees, his limbs shaking so badly he could barely hold his own weight. His dad's breath was hot on his face, stinking and foul. He screamed Riku's name. Screamed for help, for someone to put him out of his misery.

The next second, he felt his body flailing through the air, bones crunching in his back and shoulder, his legs flipping over his head. He landed with a sickening crunch, his arm at an awkward angle. He didn't feel any pain. If anything, it was a distant throb that compared little to how his heart was hurting him.

His eyes flickered open, barely able to stay open. He looked up, his head spinning. He was looking up his flight of stairs, seeing twice as many steps as he should have seen. He heard the steps creaking as boots thudded down the stairs.

Feebly, he coughed up blood, the movement sparking pain in his back and chest.

He was broken, both physically and emotionally. But he had no safe haven to escape to…

Just the cold, hardwood floor.

He heard someone call his name softly. Bright white spots winked in his eyes, and he thought he saw an angel. Tears ran down his bloody face. He prayed he could give up his pain, all of it. Leave him nothing more than a broken shell.

The angel's face slowly came into view. Long, silver hair, concerned cerulean eyes, and pearl-like skin.

His angel. To take him away from all the pain, all the heartbreak.

Love couldn't be the answer. But why else would he travel back to Sora's house just to make sure the boy was safe and sound.

He hated himself. Hated himself for letting his emotions unravel and leave him vulnerable. He never thought that Sora was capable of such pain. But it was a mistake he would never make again.

He trudged through the sand, taking small strides. He wanted to go back, but he wanted to continue to run away. He shook his head, mulling over the same thoughts. It couldn't be love. Blind lust. That could be it.

Or maybe he just wanted someone to love. Sora had been that somebody. Someone he could hold, love, lust over, protect.

He willed his muscles to stop taking him back to Sora's house, but to no avail. He wiped his mouth with his forearm where he had bitten his lip, causing blood to drip from the cut.

He felt the wind lash at his back and he heard the trees rustling as the forceful winds bent their branches and pushed their bases to breaking point.

Like me, he thought bitterly.

As he approached Sora's house, he began second-guessing his decision. Who was to say that once he saw if Sora was okay, that he would have the strength to turn his back again?

The hallway light was on, along with the kitchen and living room. His eyes wandered to Sora's cracked window. The light in his room was off, but Riku could see the lights from the hallway illuminating his room. He sighed. That could mean that Sora and his dad were discussing things.

His feet stopped. Sora was probably talking to his dad as if he had done nothing wrong. He turned to leave again, his face contorted with disgust, when he heard a piercing cry.

His hair stood on end, a wave of goose bumps decorated his arms and legs. He heard the familiar voice again and his heart skipped a beat.

"Riku!"

Next, he heard a loud crash, then silence. Sora…

Riku looked over his shoulder, concern ripping through him.

No matter what, he had vowed to protect Sora. Gritting his teeth, Riku sprinted back towards his house, struggling against his instinct to flee. He blasted through the door and a strangled cry left his lips.

Sora lay like a broken doll, sprawled across the last few steps. His arm twisted at a strange angle, his legs bent and crooked.

"SORA!"

All pain forgotten, Riku collapsed next to him, holding his head lightly in his hands. Blood caked his mouth, the whites of his eyes showing, his normally tan face pasty white.

Tears fell across his face. "Sora!"

His eyes flickered open.

Riku growled, looking up as he heard heavy footsteps at the top of the staircase. Rage seeped into his body. He realized he was gripping Sora's hair tightly. He let his hands fall. Sora tried to lift his head.

A small moan escaped past his dried lips. "Angel?" he said in a barely audible whisper, so quiet that Riku wasn't sure he heard right.

His body racked with angry sobs. "Damn you!"

Sora's fingers were tingling. His limbs felt heavy as he tried to see what the commotion was. He thought he was dead. But death couldn't be this loud.

He shouldn't feel his vision returning or the muscles in his arms and legs cramping.

He heard a vulgar scream and saw the angel storming up the stairs, headed straight for his drunken-mad father.

This wasn't heaven; there was no angel. Heaven was a place of peace. This was real. Death had tricked him. The angel that he thought had come to rescue him from his pain was real.

Riku…

[I hope it was alright and not too bad. Before everyone freaks out, I promise, Sora is not going to be paralyzed or anything. That would just suck. But anyway, please Review and let me know what you think! I must know if this is everything you guys were looking forward to in this story. I hope you liked it, even though it's a pretty disturbing chapter. Please review!]