8

Okay, so I'm proud of you people. None of you got mad at me for saying I don't like RiSo :D Or, you didn't voice your anger. Not that many of you reviewed.

So, I answered all reviews in PM's, so none of that here :) Just wanted to say that this is going to be a double chapter week because I'm not going to have internet next Saturday (I'm not going to have internet in an hour and a half until next Saturday), so I'm posting two this week. Early. And I don't know what I'll be able to post another chapter because of issues with my Beta's computer. It's not her fault, so don't get mad at either of us. -_-

Anyway, the one shot for the winner of chapter 30's word find/define is up now. It's called Hypochondriac, and you guys should read and review it :D

You should also read, enjoy, and review the next two chapters of this. Thanks!

~Sunechirei

Full Chapter Title: Eat, drink, and be scary

Riku loved watching Ellie sleep. She was so peaceful in the morning, before she woke up and had to live the stressful life of a lawyer working for a huge company. She always slept on her side, Riku noticed, curled into a ball, her hands in fists underneath the blanket that was always pulled up to her face, making sure that no ounce of heat could escape from under the comforter. Heat was another thing that she liked, and more often than not, Ellie would cuddle up next to her boyfriend for his heat.

It always made him happy when she did this, and usually, he would wrap his arms around her body to pull her closer to him. But at the moment, he didn't want to hold her close to him. He just wanted to watch her sleep; watch her sides rise and fall slowly as she breathed calmly.

Riku had to smile as he observed his sleeping girlfriend, and ever so slowly, he reached down and brushed a single lock of her brown hair away from her closed eyes, making sure not to wake her. It would be disastrous if he did, as Ellie did not like to be woken up. However, as his fingers lightly grazed Ellie's pale skin, she stirred.

Her eyes opened in an agonizingly slow manner, and Riku knew that she wasn't going to be happy with him for waking her.

But, he mused, what's done is done.

However, Ellie didn't seem angry at all when she finally looked up at Riku. In fact, she seemed a bit dazed and confused, like she didn't know where she was or what was going on. The golden eyes that Riku fell in love with all those years ago stared up at him questioningly, most likely wondering why he was already dressed, and leaning against the headboard of his own bed.

The truth was that Riku had been up for a few hours already, which never happened. Ellie always woke up before Riku. However, he had things he had to do today, and Ellie had been up late the night before finishing something for work, so Riku figured he would just let her sleep.

He hadn't been expecting her to wake up.

"Morning," he chanced, not sure how Ellie would react to his voice. Luckily, she just smiled, and closed her eyes again.

"Morning," she mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Hm... about nine," Riku replied, sitting up. "You should go back to sleep. You didn't turn off the light until about four."

"You were up too," Ellie muttered. She pushed herself off the bed, eyes still partially closed. "Besides. Why are you already up and dressed." She paused for a moment, waiting for an answer, but Riku didn't feel like giving her one. So, she sighed. "Please tell me you weren't watching me sleep again."

Laughing, Riku reached forward and ruffled Ellie's already messy hair, as if she were a child. She swatted his hand away, allowing the blanket previously wrapped around her shoulders to fall off. The only thing Riku could do when he saw what Ellie was wearing was laugh, much to Ellie's irritation. She was wearing nothing but a large black t-shirt, one of Riku's, that she had most likely thrown on before climbing into the bed last night.

That, combined with her long messy hair and tired circles under her eyes, Ellie looked completely and totally pathetic.

"Yes, I was. Do you have a problem with that?" He was completely amused. There was just something about the way she was glaring at him that really made him never want to leave the room.

"Yeah, I do have a problem with it. It's creepy."

"So is you only wearing a t-shirt," Riku countered. "My t-shirt, for that matter." Riku loved the fact that Ellie flushed. She grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her body, looking down at her knees.

"I didn't have any pajamas here, and it's uncomfortable to sleep in the clothing I was wearing so I just grabbed something from your drawer," she muttered, face turning red.

Riku reached down slowly, and pulled Ellie into a hug. "I was kidding," he whispered in her ear. "It actually makes me very happy to see you like that." That seemed to be too much for the young woman, as she pushed Riku away.

"You're a perv," she hissed, pushing away from Riku. Her face was still extremely pink. "A complete and total perv."

"And that's why you love me." Riku kissed Ellie quickly on top of the head, then on the lips, just to see how she would react to being flirted with. Normally, she hated it when Riku was being somewhat flirty, and a 'pathetic romantic,' as she called it, but this time, her reaction wasn't negative. In fact, she ended up grabbing the back of Riku's neck and pulled him into a deeper kiss, probably not caring that the blanket had fallen off again.

Lost in an instant, Riku pushed Ellie down on the bed. Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew that wasn't something he should be doing, as Axel was expecting him, but that voice was a bit lost in the mass of random desire.

Just as Riku began to trail a line of kisses down Ellie's jaw and neck, an annoying buzz interrupted him. Glancing up at the bedside table next to Ellie, Riku saw her phone moving slightly. He silently cursed whoever decided now was the best time to call the lawyer.

Her reaction, was even worse.

"Fuck!" Her voice was high and screechy. "Who the hell is calling me so early in the morning!" She reached for the phone, muttering swear words under her breath, but Riku grabbed her hand before she could grab the annoying, ringing, mechanical device.

"Just because it rings," he muttered, "doesn't mean you need to answer it." Without waiting for Ellie's reply, he leaned down and kissed her. "Which means," another kiss, "we don't have to stop."

At first, Ellie seemed perfectly content to just allow her boyfriend to continue, but after the fifth ring, her 'answering the phone OCD' fully kicked in, and Riku felt a hand cover his mouth so he had to stop. He tried to move it away, but a warning glare from Ellie stopped him in his tracks.

"Hello," Ellie said into the phone, sounding like absolutely nothing impure was going on. "Roxas? What are you calling me for?" Riku groaned, and moved off of Ellie, allowing her to sit up again. "No, I don't know where Axel is. Why are you asking... Roxas... Roxas... Roxas! Calm down a second." She rolled her eyes at Riku. "He would mind if you randomly took off for the weekend. I know it's Halloween tomorrow, and that- Whoa!" Riku decided he'd had enough of Ellie being on the phone, so he took it from her.

"Roxas, get the hell of the phone and give me my girlfriend back," Riku snapped, pushing the young woman down on the bed with one hand to keep her from grabbing the phone back.

"Riku? Why are you with- Oh wait, never mind, I don't want to know. Will you please give the phone back to Ellie? I need to talk to her."

"No, I will not give the phone back to Ellie. You need to stop being a baby, get off the phone, and tell your boyfriend that you're going to be pathetic and ditch him this weekend."

"... You're an ass."

"No, I'm a bastard. Bye now."

"Hey wait! Rik-"

Riku shut the phone before Roxas could say anything else. Ellie was glaring at him, still slightly struggling beneath his hand to get up.

"Ellie, stop struggling. I'm a hell of a lot stronger than you are, and you know it. It's pointless for you to fight me," Riku said, tossing the phone on the bed and pushing her other shoulder on the bed.

"Yeah, I know. I figured that out the first time I slept with you," was Ellie's reply. Riku had to laugh. The first time the two of them had slept together was four years back, a year after they'd started dating. Riku could clearly remember getting a call from Axel, who was worried as hell, looking for Ellie. It seemed, that she'd gone to work that day, but never returned home. Like any good roommate would do, Axel got worried and called Riku.

Despite the fact that it was raining, Riku agreed to go look for her. As soon as he'd walked out of the building, he saw her sitting at the bottom of the steps that led to his apartment, soaking wet, and drunk. Crying.

Being a good boyfriend, Riku helped her into his apartment, knowing that she would catch a cold if she stayed out in the rain, but as soon as they were inside, she jumped him.

Quite literally.

She wrapper her arms around his neck, causing him to fall onto his back, and started making out with him. Even though Riku was very happy about what was happening, it confused him even more than that, and he pushed her away to ask what she was doing. Normally, Ellie was very reserved around Riku, refusing to do much more than just kissing. This was her answer:

"I really want to fuck you."

Riku suddenly let out a laugh as he thought about how embarrassed he'd become after Ellie said that. The said girl, still struggling against Riku's grip, shot him a questioning look.

"Uh, Riku...?"

"It's nothing," Riku replied in a low voice. "You just amuse me." Ellie flushed.

"What the hell are you talking about? What am I doing that amuses you?"

"Not what you're doing now. What you did four years ago. When you pushed me down. And told me you wanted to uh... have sex." The reaction to that sentence was not a pleasant one for Riku, as Ellie decided to grab Riku's arm. And dig her nails hard into his skin. Really, really hard.

"Ow!" Riku let go of her shoulders and examined his injured flesh, hissing at the swelling droplets of blood. "What the fuck was that for? You're the one who brought it up!" Ellie didn't reply. She just rolled off the bed before Riku could stop her, and rolled her eyes before walking into the bathroom, leaving a bleeding Riku sitting on his bed.

"So, what happened to your arm?" Axel asked a few hours later when Riku showed up at a random restaurant in Downtown Radiant Garden. Riku glanced down quickly at the gauze wrapped around the nail wounds from Ellie earlier.

"Your cousin's a bitch when she's embarrassed," Riku said, rolling his eyes.

"Ellie did that to you? What did you say to her?" Axel looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh at the situation, which was just annoying to Riku. Even though Ellie had wrapped his arm up and apologized for hurting him, he was irritated by the whole ordeal.

"It's none of you business," Riku said, placing his head in his hands.

"Alright." There was something about Axel's voice that made it sound like he actually knew the reason. Or, at least had a vague idea of what happened. "Well, you probably deserved it. Anyway, onto our plan."

Ignoring Axel's nasty comment, Riku leaned back in his seat, a grin suddenly spreading onto his face. The two twenty-six year old guys had been planning on something for Halloween, because last year, according to Axel, had been dumb and boring. So, with some help from Sora and Kairi, the two got the plans for a party. The only thing they had left to do was make sure Roxas was there.

Riku had to laugh at Roxas' fear of Halloween. Sure, he and Sora had done some pretty nasty things to scare the seven year old Roxas all those years ago, but surely after twelve years, the guy could get over it. Right?

"Right, our plan. What are we gonna do about Roxas?"

"Roxas?" Riku grabbed a menu from off the table, not really hungry. The pain in his arm was ruining his appetite. "You know, recently you've stopped using his nickname. The one you came up with."

Axel seemed to ponder this statement for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah. I know." His voice was soft when he said that. It made Riku wonder if he sounded like that when talking about Ellie. After all, there was no way Axel's feelings for Roxas were greater than Riku's for Ellie.

"Stop being so competitive!" Kairi's words from Riku's last year in high school suddenly echoed in his head. She'd yelled at him after he and Sora got into an argument about who could get through high school first. It had been stupid of them to come up with that debate, because Riku was a year ahead of both Kairi and Sora, which was the main reason why Kairi had yelled at him.

The other reason, was because Riku won. After taking the G.E.D test and was about to leave Destiny Island. She thought it was because Riku wanted to win the bet.

He wondered briefly if Sora had told her the real reason he left Destiny Island all those years ago. He probably hadn't.

"Does your arm hurt?" Axel asked this suddenly, looking slightly concerned. Riku blinked, not realizing that he'd spaced out for a bit, and Axel had been trying to talk to him. Slowly, he shook his head.

"Nah. It's fine." He paused for a moment. "Well, I mean, it does hurt. Nails getting dug into your skin so deep that it draws blood hurts a hell of a lot, but it isn't bothering me."

Axel didn't seem convinced.

"Okay, well, back to my original question: how are we gonna keep Roxas here this weekend, and get him to the party," he muttered, crossing his arms. "That guy can be really difficult when he doesn't want to do anything, and I don't have Naminé around this time to get him to go."

"I don't think Naminé has anything to do with the reason Roxas came last year," Riku said, rolling his eyes. "He's just a pushover. We just have to figure out how to screw with his mind enough that he'll stay in Radiant Garden."

"Well, he was planning on visiting Olette I think..." Axel didn't look happy about that fact.

"Olette? One of Roxie's weirdo friends, right?"

"Yup."

"And why is he going to visit her?"

"He said it was because she understood his pain and wouldn't force him to do anything he didn't want to."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? He said that?"

"Well," Axel said, leaning back, "his exact words were, 'You guys fucked with me last year. Olette won't do that. I'm going to hang out with her.' I asked him why he didn't just stay at home, his reply, 'Riku's broken into my house too many times. I don't feel safe there.'" Axel glared at Riku, obviously blaming him.

"Sorry... It's fun to break into his house. He's so stupid," Riku laughed, not feeling guilty at all. "And you remember his exact words?"

"Of course! It's Roxas. I remember everything he's said to me," Axel said, being completely serious. Then, after a moment of silence, "Well, I remember everything everyone says, but that's not the point."

Sighing, Riku rolled his eyes. "You and your photographic memory."

"Actually, it's called an eidetic memory."

"Whatever. So, what are we going to do?"

Axel laughed and leaned forward. "I think I know what to do." He held up his hand to keep Riku from talking. "You don't have to do anything, or know what I'm going to do." An evil smirk littered his face, making Riku feel somewhat sorry for Roxas. That poor boy...

"Alright. Sounds good." He didn't really want to know what Axel had plans were.

"Oh, Riku?"

"What?"

"You might want to get your arm checked out. I've been the victim of Ellie's nails before." He smirked. "Even though she was raised by a doctor and is pretty awesome at wrapping bandages, that could still get infected."

Riku glanced down at the bandage on his arm, which was slightly red from the blood that had seeped through earlier. He didn't believe that it would get infected. Ellie had told him not to worry about it. Then again, she had been rather irritated with him.

Roxas didn't look happy.

It made Riku laugh.

No one bothered asking how Axel had talked Roxas into coming to the party, but whatever he did, it had caused Roxas to come willing to a party, bright red, and fuming. When the two of them had walked into Kairi and Ellie's apartment, where the party was being held, Ellie immediately asked Riku if Axel had told them his plan.

"I was too afraid to know," was Riku's reply. "And now I'm too freaked out to ask."

She nodded, and Riku guessed she was a little weirded out by the fact he had been afraid and freaked out.

But now, she seemed perfectly normal again, holding Riku's injured hand delicately. She was curled up next to him and currently, they were the only two who weren't making fun of Roxas for being scared of Halloween. Normally, Riku would be right there with Sora, making fun of Roxas and berating him for being so pathetic, but the fighting with Sora made him not want to be around the guy.

"Hey, Riku?" Ellie muttered quietly, glancing up at him.

"Hm?"

"I really am sorry about yesterday morning. I was just..." Ellie trailed off, looking down sadly at the bandage.

"I told you already, it's fine," he told her, pulling her chin up so she faced him. "I should have known you would freak on me." He paused for a moment then smirked. "But, it really, really hurts," he whined, hoping to tug at Ellie's heartstrings a little bit.

She smiled, then reached up to kiss him. "You're pathetic, Riku." He laughed.

"You keep telling me that, and yet you're still dating me."

There was no reply to this, only another quick kiss. Then, a loud commotion came from the other side of the room. The couple glanced over at the group of people who were currently dumping a box of fake spiders on Roxas. He was screaming at them to go to hell, while trying to escape the madness that was Axel and Sora being jerks.

Strangely, Kairi wasn't there with them. Riku noticed this immediately, as for the past two weeks, Kairi had been stuck to Sora like glue. Ellie realized this as well.

"Hey, Riku," Ellie said suddenly, pulling away from Riku.

"What?"

"Kairi's... well, she's been acting weird. It started when Naminé broke up with Roxas, and it's just gotten worse over the past couple of months." She sighed. "I think you and Sora fighting has really been getting to her."

Riku paled. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Ellie... I know that you're concerned about Kairi, but you're her friend and roommate and-"

"Riku, you're her best friend! You need to go talk to her."

"I don't really want to-"
"Get the hell into Kairi's room and go talk to her you fucking bastard," Ellie snapped pulling away from Riku. She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Fine." Riku didn't want to go talk to Kairi. The two of them hadn't really had much of a conversation since he'd left Destiny Island, being too afraid of what she would say to him. However, Ellie could be very convincing when she started cussing.

So, he trotted to the other side of the apartment, making sure to avoid Ellie, who was glaring at him. It was easy to avoid Axel and Sora, who were currently pinning Roxas to the ground and arguing about whether or not they should get him really drunk. As interesting and fun as that sounded, Riku could still feel the dangerous stare of Ellie, so he kept moving.

When he finally entered Kairi's room, he was quite shocked to see her sitting on her bed with her back to the door.

"Kai?" He called out hesitantly.

She turned instantly, wiping tears from her eyes. Riku was shocked by this. He hadn't seen Kairi cry since he and Sora had saved her from that kidnapper.

"Riku? What are you doing in here? I would have thought you would be with Ellie," Kairi said, her voice bright. It was obvious she was trying to hide the fact that she had been crying, but her red eyes were a dead giveaway.

"Are you okay, Kai?" Riku asked, moving towards her. Laughing, she stood up and smiled widely.

"I'm perfectly fine! Why do you ask?"

It made Riku sad, seeing Kairi act like nothing was wrong, even though her sitting alone in a room, crying, was a pretty good indicator that she was upset about something.

Riku became determined to find out what it was.

He walked over to her, ignoring her protests, and the fact that she was telling him to go back to Ellie and she would be out in a moment. As soon as he reached her, his hands reached up to her shoulders, and pushed her down so she sat on the bed. She went silent after that, just looking up at Riku with wide eyes.

"Kairi Alrina Takedo, you are not alright. What the hell is going on with you," Riku asked, sitting on the bed next to her. "Why have you been acting so weird ever since the whole Valentine's Day thing with Roxas and Naminé? I know she is your cousin, and the two of you had become close, but this is ridiculous. And even lately you've been acting like the world is coming to an end. What's going on?"

There was a moment of silence.

Then Kairi started to cry again. Riku wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, petting her head as if she were a young child in need of comfort.

"It's just not fair!" Kairi managed to say. "Roxas is out there, and living his life, so happy and cheerful. It's like he didn't even notice how upset Naminé was!" Kairi clenched Riku's shirt as she continued to cry. "Then, when Axel and Roxas got in that car crash, and they started acting weird, then Naminé left, and... and... it's just not right!"

"It's going to be okay," Riku muttered soothingly. "I know that things have been rough with the whole Naminé and Roxas issue but-"

"She won't even talk to me anymore!" Kairi interrupted. "I don't know where she is or if everything's okay. I know nothing! And Roxas is out there with Axel, being happy and Axel's wearing the necklace that Roxas originally got for Naminé. How is any of that okay? How can Roxas live with himself after what he did to her?"

"Kai-"

"No, it's not going to just be okay, Riku. I know you and Ellie are so happy together, but it's not like that for everyone. I've lost everyone, Riku. My parents are dead, so is my grandmother, Naminé's gone for who knows how long, you and I haven't had a real conversation since you ditched us nine years ago, and now Sora's being distant."

Kairi pulled away from Riku and stood up, tears still streaming down her face.

"To make matters worse, you and Sora aren't even talking to each other. I don't even know why!" Kairi saying that was like slap in the face to Riku. He never could have guessed that Sora would be acting distant around Kairi, or that she was upset by the fact they hadn't talked much, and even Naminé leaving seemed to be having more of an effect on Kairi than Riku had originally thought. It was hard for him to understand why she had been keeping all this in.

"Look, Kai, I'm sorry about that Sora's being distant, but-"

"But what, Riku? He's going through something rough? You are too? How do you think I feel? I thought I was your guys' fucking friend! I thought that maybe you guys were being moody and weird, and all of this would stop soon, but no! It's been how long since the fight? Three months? Tell me what it's about!"

"I can't. I just-"

"Tell me, Riku! I want to know why my family is fighting so much! Why the only two guys I've ever loved hate each other! Did Sora beat you at something? Did he say something horrible to you?"

"Please don't get involved, Kairi. It's not something you need to kn-" Riku started to say.

But, his sentence was interrupted by the sudden sharp pain of Kairi's hand coming in contact with his cheek as she slapped him. Riku blinked, confused.

"Tell me. I want to know what's going on with you!"

"I... I... I just told Sora the truth about why I left nine years ago," Riku managed to stutter, still shocked by the fact Kairi had hit him. Hard. And without any remorse. She was really angry. "Then he said something that pissed me off and we got in a fight and-"

"Why did you leave?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"Riku, you're my fucking brother! Or, as far as I'm concerned you are. No matter what you tell me, I'm not going to hate, or judge you, or anything!" She reached down and grabbed Riku's hands. "I just want to know."

Riku gulped, then sighed. Should he tell her? Would it be good for her to know? Or would it destroy their relationship? As Riku pondered this, a small thought in the back of his head appeared: if he didn't tell her, their friendship would be gone.

"I left because of who I was in love with."

"What?"

"And Sora didn't seem to be happy with who it was."

"Who?"

"Him."

"I don't care. You two need to talk this out! I know it's hard for you guys, but stop being idiots and talk to each other!"

Kairi's words were still resonating in Riku's head, and they were the only thing keeping him from bolting out of the closet where he, and Sora, and been forced into by Kairi. Of course, she'd been helped by Ellie, Axel, and surprisingly Roxas, but the fact that she pushed Sora into the closet by herself had still be rather impressive.

Impressive, despite the fact that Riku was pissed at her, and Sora was cursing under his breath about how his wonderful Halloween had turned into a horrible night being stuck in Kairi's closet with Riku. Riku wasn't happy about the situation either, but he kept his profanity to himself, figuring that Ellie and Kairi were listening to make sure everything went well.

For a second, he wondered if Sora thought about that as well, but the thought went away when Sora said, "You're not going to do anything to me, are you?"

Riku was amazed at how stupid Sora was being. The two had been friends for twenty-three years, and never once had Riku done anything to him. Even after realizing his feelings, Riku kept his hands to himself.

"Of course I am," Riku replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I'm so going to fucking rape you in Kairi's closet even though I have a girlfriend who I love, and I've never fucking done anything to you."

"Hey, I don't know," Sora muttered. "You've already apparently fallen in love with me. For all I know you could lose control and do something."

"That was nine years ago, Sora. I'm over it now."

"Uh huh."

"You know what Sora, just go to hell." Riku was getting fed up with his best friend acting like an idiot. "Quit acting like some kinda victim. I was the one who was dealing with all the mental shit that comes with knowing you can never have the person you want."

"Oh, that's really reassuring." Sora stood up and began examining the doorknob. "Like I'm supposed to believe that."

Anger rising, Riku stood up as well, glaring. "What's your problem, Sora? I thought that you would at least try and be understanding, but no. You're being a jack ass who taunts me at every possible moment. I thought that maybe, just maybe after nine years of hiding it, and five years of having a girlfriend would stop you from acting like this, but no. You're acting like the end of the world is coming." He took a step towards Sora. "Well guess what. You're world is fine. Stop acting like such a baby."

"Look who's talking! You're the one who ran away from this mess when you were seventeen, not me. And think about how I feel. Here I thought you'd been in love with Kairi, and you were upset because she and I started going out, but that's not what happened at all. I'm trying to figure out if I can still be your friend, Riku, knowing this."

"Why couldn't we be friends? I told you already: I don't feel that way about you anymore. You're just a friend now."

Sora started laughing. "Yeah, and what about when you and Ellie break up? Huh? Will your 'feelings' come back? What am I gonna do then?"

"First of all," Riku growled, "Ellie and I aren't going to break up. Second of all, feelings don't just come and go. The ones I felt for you are gone. Completely gone! You don't have to worry about a single damn thing!"

"Yeah. Right."
"That's it," Riku exclaimed. The frustration had built up beyond the point of control, and Riku was sick of it. He was sick of fighting with his best friend, sick of keeping secrets from Sora and Kairi, sick of not knowing whether or not he was going to be able to face his friends in the future.

He was sick of running away.

Closing the distance between himself and Sora, Riku grabbed his friends collar and shoved him up against the door, before leaning down and kissing him.

It was over in a second, not even enough time for Sora to fully react to what Riku had just done. When Riku pulled away, he saw that his best friend's eyes were wide, and his mouth was open slightly.

"You... you... you just...," Sora stuttered.

"Kissed you? Yeah, I did. Get over it."

"Why did you-"

"To prove a point! I felt nothing! There was no emotion connected to that," Riku snapped, crossing his arms. "I. Don't. Love. You." The two guys stared at each other for a moment, anger and confusion filling the air. Finally, Riku sighed. "I just want my best friend back."

Sora started laughing. Maybe it was the tension he felt, or there was actually amusement. Riku couldn't tell why, but it irritated him.

"I agree," Sora said, a cheeky grin on his face. "Friends?"

Riku snorted. Sora recovered from being kissed by Riku way to quickly. But, he extended his hand anyway. "Friends." Sora took the hand and shook it, grinning. "Now get the hell out there and apologize to Kairi for being a shitty boyfriend."

"Yes sir."

Riku watched quietly as Ellie unlocked the door to his apartment. Normally, he would be the one to do so, but Ellie had confiscated his keys after deciding he'd had too much to drink to drive. Of course, Riku would have really had no issue driving. He never really got drunk enough to be affected, but he liked having an excuse to be with Ellie.

"You okay?" Ellie asked, opening the door. "You haven't said a word since we left the party."

"Yeah, I'm fine." A lie. Not the first one he'd told that night.

"Hm..." She didn't comment on what Riku said, thankfully for him, instead just walking inside. "You know, that was kinda a fun party. And you and Sora are friends again. Roxas just seemed confused about the whole thing." She laughed. Riku said nothing, only watching her.

But watching her wasn't enough for him. Just seeing her there, back to him, talking about the evening as she took off her shoes, preparing to stay for a little while, wasn't enough for Riku. Most of the time it was. He could just watch her from a distance at work, or in public, but...

"Hey Riku, I don't think I'm going to stay late today. I have some things to do tomor-" Riku suddenly wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her back towards him. The last word in Ellie's sentence got caught in her throat after Riku's sudden action. "Riku?"

"Stay with me tonight?" Riku muttered, tightening his grip around Ellie's neck. He just wanted to be with her.

"I... Riku... I can't... I have to- whoa!" Riku quickly grabbed Ellie's shoulders and spun her around she she faced him. Her eyes were wide with surprise as Riku leaned down and kissed her deeply. After a few moments, Ellie managed to pull away from her boyfriend, despite the fact that he was holding her tightly to his body.

"Riku," she breathed, "what's going on?"

"I really want to fuck you," Riku whispered, shooting Ellie's own words from four years ago back at her. She flushed and tried to speak again, but Riku wouldn't let her.

As he kissed her again, he pushed her farther into the apartment, not caring that his shoes were on, or the door was still open. In fact, he didn't care about anything at that moment. Just that he was there, with Ellie.

Eventually, Ellie stopped moving backwards, having hit a wall, and she let out a tiny gasp. Riku, however, had no intention of stopping anything, and pressed up against her, slowly teasing off her shirt.

After nails threatened to dig into his skin again, Riku pulled away and watched Ellie curiously. She was breathing heavily, her face pink and lips slightly bruised. Riku chuckled slightly, earning a nasty glare from Ellie.

"I love you, Ellie," he told her. "I love you more than anything else in this world." He kissed her again quickly. "Please... please don't ever leave me."

"Riku..."

"Please?"

"... I won't."