Follow Me Home

Chapter Twenty-Two

o.o.o

The next morning, Kairi woke up in a blur. Light shone from a single window on the other side of the room. It was quiet and she had no idea what time it was until she checked her phone. There weren't any calls or messages from Roxas. It was a little weird.

'I wonder if Sora's awake...'

Just as she was getting out of bed, Sora came down the stairs in a blue robe. He saw her, but said nothing and just went over to his dresser to pull out some clothes.

"...Good morning..." Kairi said to him.

"Mhm." Sora quickly grabbed his clothes and headed back towards the stairs.

"W-Wait!"

Kairi lifted herself off of the bed and slowly went over to him. Sora had his back facing her; she couldn't see it but he was getting really nervous. Kairi reached for his hand, but stopped midway.

He was so far away.

"Don't come upstairs. You have to leave."

"Sora..."

"Would you please stop saying my name?"

'I love it...' He thought to himself right after.

Kairi sniffled and turned to the side. She was starting to get hopeless. This pain hurt a million times more than anything. She had never imagined that this would happen, despite everything. She wanted to be a part of his life again... she wanted him to love her again...

"Don't be here when I come back down. If Riku finds out he will flip his lid." Sora said coldly and proceeded up the stairs.

Sora went to the bathroom to change. He hung the robe on the door and got dressed. Fixing his hair a little bit, he stopped and stared at himself in the mirror. However, his mind was elsewhere.

"Am I being too harsh...?"He asked himself out loud. "I mean... she's been on the verge of suicide... over me... but if she didn't do what she did in the first place... and then... that guy did who knows what to her..."

"But I still can't bring myself to forgive her... even though I feel sorry for her..."

There was a knock at the door and Riku's voice was heard. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah," Sora called out to him and finished what he was doing. Before leaving the bathroom, he wondered if Kairi had left yet. He highly doubted it. His questions were confirmed when he heard Riku again, but he sounded angry. Sora rushed out and saw Riku and Kairi in the kitchen. She had a terrified look on her face.

"Damn it..."

"What the hell is she doing here?" Riku asked him. "Get her out of my house! What in the world were you thinking? Are you with her again?"

"No!" Sora hurried over to her, put both hands on her shoulders and made her go down into the basement, following close behind.

"I'm... sorry... I..."

"I told you to leave!" Sora yelled. "I was nice enough to let you stay here, you could have at least done that..."

Kairi whimpered in front of him. She never meant any harm...

Sora took a few deep breaths. It wasn't like him to do this. He immediately felt bad, but he didn't apologize or anything. Sighing, Sora's voice became a little bit calmer and he said, "I will take you home."He put on his shoes and looked over at her. Kairi just stood there and cried.

"Let's go." He walked over to the door and waited for her to follow. Nothing happened.

"Do you hate me...?"

"What?"

Kairi trembled and tried to repeat herself, but she couldn't without an abundance of tears rolling down her face. Sora could feel himself getting weak, but he didn't let it get to him. As much as he hated seeing Kairi in misery, he had to remember that things would probably never be the same between them again no matter how much he pitied her.

That was all it was—pity.

...right?

Sora spotted her shoes near the bed and went over to get them. He set them down in front of her feet and stood up. Their eyes met and a butterfly sensation overcame him. Kairi took a few steps closer to him. She really wanted to kiss him. Sora could see her lips getting closer to his. He could barely move. Kairi closed her eyes; she was being extremely brave and her love for him was controlling her. She just... wanted to...

Sora stood there. Kairi's lips brushed against his, pulling away at first and then going back for a real kiss. With his eyes opened, Sora looked anywhere but at Kairi's face. He could feel his heart beating fast. He had to stop this... but in truth he was curious how he would feel in this situation. She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to kiss him; Sora didn't kiss back. To him, it was very awkward. Kairi became more aggressive, making Sora even more uncomfortable. He parted from her and without realizing it, wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Kairi saw this and teared up even more.

It was official—Sora may have still had feelings for her, but they were nowhere near where they used to be. The kiss was just sloppy and felt pointless to him.

Had his feelings really changed that much?

Kairi felt terrible for pressuring him like that, but she didn't regret it. Even though she knew that he wasn't into it, for her own sake, she felt like it had to be done. Her love for him had only gotten stronger and she was more determined than ever.

"You're trying way too hard." He said to her. "Put your shoes on. Let's go."

o.o.o

Roxas sat in the bathroom and rested his head against the wall. He had just thrown up and had a huge hangover. Axel had already left for the day; he was pretty sure that Axel drank more than he did and yet he seemed just fine. Roxas got to his feet and immediately felt dizzy. He held onto the counter for support and reached for the door.

He didn't have to wonder where Kairi was or even what she did with Sora. They were probably laying together, wrapped in each other's arms after a long, passionate night of makeup sex. Roxas was surprised with himself as to how calm he was about it, even though it disgusted him. It was almost as if he expected it.

Roxas got dressed and went out to the cafe near the apartment. He walked inside and was greeted unenthusiastically by a girl. Her shoulder length, silver hair was swooped over one side of her face.

"Hi, I'm Fuu and I will be your server. What do you want?"Her demeanor was serious and uninterested.

"Just give me a bagel or something."

"What flavor? We have blueberry, strawberry, berry mix, banana, orange..."

"Blueberry."

She went and got him a drink of water and handed him his bagel. Before she left, she just stared at him for a moment.

"So why are you so miserable?"

"Huh?"

"You just look that way."

"Um... hangover."

"You must have had a reason to drink."

"Why do you want to know?"

She shrugged. "There's no one else here and I'm bored."

Even though Roxas did think it was a little weird, she was right. They were the only two there.

"The girl I love is with someone else."

"Bummer. My boyfriend died."

Roxas gave her an astonished look; how could she be so casual and emotionless?

"I'm... sorry about that."

"Yeah. Some bastard in Twilight Town shot him at point blank range. Coward... he wasn't exactly the best boyfriend in the world, but I liked him."

Roxas didn't really know what to say to the waitress. He just stayed quiet and looked out the window.

o.o.o

"Get inside for the three o'clock body count!"

The inmates of the Twilight County Prison all stopped what they were doing and gathered in the main hall in a straight line. Several officers patrolled the area, ready to fire if there were any incidents. Vanitas stood at the end of the line.

When it was time to eat, everyone went to the cafeteria; their feet in shackles. Meals consisted of green beans and chili with a biscuit on most days. The inmates went off in their own groups and sat with each other, but Vanitas was alone. There were no such things as friends or trust here. People will literally stab you in the back at a moments notice.

"Check it out... its Vanny boy." Rai came up to him with a few others. Vanitas ignored them. He knew that Rai was stronger than him, physically. This guy was holding a grudge against him all because he killed that Seifer guy and had been tormenting him since day one. Rai hit him across the head with his hand and laughed; his fellow mates copying him. Vanitas' blood was boiling and he really wanted to hit back, but he knew he would lose.

"Break it up." An officer gave them stern looks.

Lunch was over and everyone was told to go back to their cells.

Vanitas was considered too dangerous to have a cell mate, so for twenty one hours a day, he was stuck in a four by four cell in solitude. The prison was noisy all the time; there were a lot of inmates that liked to lash out and yell random things at the expense of others, only to get beaten up later for it.

Vanitas passed the time by reading. He didn't like to do it, but he had nothing else to do. He was waiting for the first opportunity to break out of here and he knew that it wouldn't be easy. He had been to this prison before, but only for two months.

He was serving a life sentence. He was charged with second degree murder, kidnapping, assault and rape.

He swore to himself that he would escape.

o.o.o

Kairi and Sora finally made it to the apartment where she was staying. She really didn't want to come back here; she knew that she probably would not see Sora for a long time after this. She wanted a way to contact him, but she highly doubted that Sora would give his number to her. She had no idea whether or not he even checked his e-mail or his social networks. As a matter of fact, Kairi hadn't even thought to look him up online.

"Is this it?"

Kairi nodded and sighed.

"Well, have a nice life."

'No... those words...'

"Sora... don't... leave..."

Sora could feel the imminent words coming to him. He tried really hard not to say anything, but he couldn't help it anymore.

"Kairi, you and I are done. We will never be together again. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it has to be."

"Don't... say that..."

"What do you want me to say? Do you want me to lie?"

"No... but... please... give me a chance..."

Sora tucked his hands in his pockets and sighed. He really didn't see this going any other way. Kairi looked at him with hopeful eyes, but his mind was already set. At the same time, Roxas was coming back towards the hotel. He saw Sora and Kairi standing there; Kairi looked hysterical.

"I don't love you anymore, Kairi."

Kairi fell to her knees. Sora turned and walked away from her.

Roxas was shocked.

o.o.o

o.o.o

A/N: This is getting harder (emotionally) for me to write! Phew!

This chapter seems a little short, I know, but that's okay, right?

Don't worry, I didn't forget about Xion.

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