Follow Me Home

Chapter Twenty-Three

o.o.o

"It's like one step forward and two steps back
No matter what I do you're always mad and I can't change your mind
It's like trying to turn around on a one-way street
I can't give ya what you want and it's killing me
And I... I'm starting to see
Maybe we're not meant to be..."

o.o.o

Namine sat at the kitchen while Sora paced around frantically.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Sora called out.

"What did you do?"Namine asked with concern.

"I... said something that I shouldn't have."

Namine waited for him continue.

"...I told Kairi that... I don't love her anymore..."

"Is it true?"

Sora paused and shook his head.

"Did you apologize?"

"I can't do that."

"Why?"

"Because... if I do that... she will get hope or something... and I don't know how I feel!"

Namine thought for a moment. She felt really bad for both Sora and Kairi. She wasn't sure if she should say what was on her mind, but she ended up saying it anyway.

"Why don't you try to spend some time with her? Take her out."

"Are you crazy?" Sora gave her a defying look.

"You clearly still have feelings for her and you won't know how you feel until you voluntarily sit down with her and talk. There's no use in stomping around my house. She actually seems... remorseful."

"But I don't know how to talk to her. She throws herself at me every chance she gets. Must have learned it from that nightclub job..."

"Sora, do you want to be with her again? I don't want to hear some cover up." Namine said sternly. "I want your true, honest feelings."

"...I do. But it seems impossible right now."

o.o.o

For the next few days, it was like Roxas and Kairi were back to square one. She was extremely depressed, wouldn't eat and wouldn't get out of bed. Once again, he had to keep a close watch on her.

Honestly, he was getting tired of it.

Roxas could only take so much these days. He felt that being with Kairi was like inevitably driving towards a dead end. As much as he loved her, inadvertently was becoming more and more distant. Roxas wanted a real relationship with Kairi, but nothing ever changed.

But yet he couldn't leave her.

Roxas heard Kairi sobbing in their bedroom, but he didn't get up from the couch right away. It wasn't until he heard things breaking that he was prompted to rush in there. Kairi had thrown the lamp on the floor and was trying to rip the sheets. She was going insane.

"Kairi, what are you doing? Stop it!" He intercepted her before she was able to throw the alarm clock at the glass door. Kairi screamed. Roxas was kicked in the stomach, but he was still able to hold her down.

"I want to die! There's no reason for me to stay here anymore!"

"Yeah, you've said that before!" Roxas tightened his grip. "Calm down!"

"Sora hates me! He wants absolutely nothing to do with me! He just thinks I'm a whore!"

"He does... not... hate... you!" Roxas accidentally slammed Kairi's head on the floor as he tried to get control of her. She cried out in pain and just lay there.

'How much longer am I going to put up with this...?!'

o.o.o

He took her to her therapist for an emergency session. Roxas forced Kairi up the stairs and towards Ms. Lee's office. He knew that he should have called ahead, but he didn't have time. Kairi was a ticking time bomb and he had no idea what she would do next. She needed to talk to someone with a level head because right now all Roxas wanted to do was run away.

Ms. Lee accepted the session and took Kairi into her room. Roxas waited outside. He was overly stressed and irritated; if anyone were to say anything to him he would probably explode on them. He was lacking sleep because he was afraid of this happening.

His sanity was declining.

o.o.o

Sora was finally done with his shift. He clocked out and left the store. Now he had the entire afternoon to figure out something to do—Namine, Riku and Ken were out shopping somewhere. Now that Sora felt like his job was going to last, he felt that it was time to look for an apartment. He didn't want to have to depend on his friends; they were a family and had their own lives to live.

After visiting several leasing offices, Sora realized just how expensive rent was with his part time job. He missed his job at the corporation. Back then, he was financially stable. He wondered what would happen if he walked into the headquarters building, but refrained from doing so.

He was just minutes away from his parent's house by the time he was done with his rounds. The familiar setting made him tremble. He knew that he needed to visit his parents... but he was too afraid. Sora had no idea what they would do or even say. He wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with his mother's crazy antics again, but at the same time, he did miss them. In a split second spontaneous decision, Sora made his way towards the neighborhood that he grew up in.

Not much had changed in the past year and a half. The lawns still looked perfect, the gardens were extravagant and there were nice cars everywhere. Neighbors got along for the most part. Sora could see their house just down the road. He stopped on the corner and just stared; his nerves were overwhelming him again. They were obviously home; both of their cars as well as the butler's car were in the driveway. Sora tried to swallow his pride and keep walking, but it got more difficult with every step. All of a sudden, he saw his father come outside.

Sora hid behind a bush in one of neighbor's yards; he was surprised that an alarm didn't go off or anything. His father made his way towards the mailbox; he was still dressed in his robe and looked like he had not shaved in days. This was very unlike Mr. Yamada; he was always clean cut especially in a neighborhood full of judgmental rich folks. Sora watched as he retrieved the mail and went back inside; his head hung low. This was the perfect time for Sora to chicken out, but he felt really bad. Although he wasn't ready to explain to his parents what had happened to him and where he was, (if his mother found out that he was staying with her sister the entire time she would freak out) but he felt like he owed it to them to at least let them know that he was okay.

Sora slowly walked up to the front door. He was extremely anxious by now; so much so that his finger shook as he tried to press the doorbell. He definitely didn't think this through; just showing up like this—anything could happen. Sora gathered all of his courage and pressed the button. A loud ringing sound echoed throughout the house.

He wanted to run.

"This is a bad idea... this is bad... I can't do this..."

He could hear his mother calling to Jonathan, their butler, to answer the door. Sora began shaking. This was too much...

But it was too late.

The door cracked open and Jonathan peered out. His beady eyes squinted at him. "Who goes there?"

"Uhh... hey..." Sora said, his nervousness apparent in his voice.

"Sweet mother of Jesus..." Jonathan's eyes widened in shock. "Madam! Madam, come quickly!" The skinny man was frantic, but joyful at the same time. He nearly tackled Sora to the ground, expressing deep gratitude for Sora being there. Sora was a little surprised at his reaction.

"What is it?" Mrs. Yamada appeared at the door. As soon as she saw Sora, she dropped the glass of wine that she was holding and if it weren't for Mr. Yamada right behind her, she would have fainted.

"MY BABY!" Tears of joy streamed down her face. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE HERE!"

"My son... is alive..." Mr. Yamada was unable to contain his astonishment.

Sora could barely breathe; his mother was hugging him so tightly. He expected more screaming and anger, but just the fact that she was overjoyed was fine with him.

"Oh... my... baby... where in the world... have you been...? Are you hurt? What happened to you?" She asked a million questions. "Never mind, let's get you inside... oh my goodness... this is a miracle..."

She sat Sora down at the kitchen table, but couldn't take her hands off of his shoulders and hair. "I am... I don't even know what to say... this is just..."

"Hey, dad." Sora said amongst all of his mother's excitement.

"So you're okay?"

Sora nodded.

"My goodness... when I saw your brother on TV I nearly cried! Gosh he looks so much like you it's scary... but what matters is... you're here-"

"My... brother...?" Sora questioned; she must have been delirious. "I don't have a brother..."

Mrs. Yamada stopped in her tracks and immediately realized that she had made a huge mistake. Mr. Yamada and Jonathan glared at her.

"D-D-Did I say... brother? I meant... um..." she tried to come up with a cover up, but just reverted back to praising him.

But now Sora was fixated on her little outburst.

"Dad, what is she talking about? What brother?"

His dad gave him an uncertain look. Everyone suddenly became quiet.

"It's a... very long story..." Jonathan said.

o.o.o

Roxas escorted Kairi out to the car. The session took three hours; he would see the charges later on the bill. With no job and Kairi's savings running out, Roxas was getting even more fidgety. When they were both securely in the car, Roxas put on the child and window locks and started driving back to the apartment. Kairi didn't say a word.

However, Roxas had plenty on his mind.

"Kairi, are you ever going to realize how much I love you?"

He knew that it was the wrong time to ask. He knew it would only make things worse.

"I can't figure out what you want. I don't know how to make you happy anymore."

"I'm sorry..." she said in a very low tone; he almost didn't hear it.

"Is this what our life will consist of? I've been trying everything for you, yet nothing ever comes out of it. I'm letting you know right now, it's really frustrating. I give and give... and I don't mind that, but all I get in return is..."

Kairi was silent.

o.o.o

Namine, Riku and Ken stopped at a Starbucks to eat. Riku got up to go to the bathroom while Namine sat there with the two-year old. Ken colored with some crayons on a napkin while Namine looked over the menu.

"Namine, is that you?"

Namine whirled around, only to see her ex-boyfriend standing behind her and smiling. He looked like a mature version of Roxas. A briefcase hung over his shoulder. His suit and tie looked dashing on him and he was very calm and collected.

"Ventus! Oh my gosh!" Namine stood up and hugged him; she knew that she probably shouldn't have but she couldn't help herself.

"How's it going?" He grinned and looked past her. "Oh, who's this little fellow?"

Namine blushed and went behind Ken. "This is... my son. Ken."

"Whoa, your son, eh?" Ventus awed at the little boy. "He's a cutie. So I'm guessing that you're married, then?"

"Yeah, to me." Riku appeared; he didn't look very pleased. "Namine, who is this freak and why does he look like Roxas?"

Namine laughed nervously. "Well, he's..."

"I'm his older brother, that's why. Good to meet you." He extended his hand, but Riku refused to shake it. Riku's jealousy was evident, but that only made Ventus and Namine laugh.

"We dated right before I entered college." Namine said.

Riku twitched. "Why... are you telling me this?"

"Oh come on, that was... eight years ago! Get over it, Riku." Namine giggled.

"Haha, well I'm not going to take up much of your time. I was actually in town because I was looking for Roxas. Have any of you seen him?"

Even though they saw him at the mall the other day, they both shook their heads.

"Is something going on?" Namine noticed the serious look on Ventus' face.

"Uhh... yeah. Just some family problems. I need him to come back to Twilight Town with me for a while."

"I see."

"Well, hope you find him. Come on, let's go." Riku started packing up their things.

"Didn't you guys used to be good friends?" Ventus raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but... he's not exactly on good terms with us right now." Namine admitted. Riku rushed her out the door, along with their son. Ventus just watched in confusion.

"Okay, then."

o.o.o

o.o.o

A/N: Feel the brotherly love! Okay, don't do that... haha. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please don't forget to leave a wonderful review! Peace!