Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do, however, fully own Riku's parents, as they are a couple of the few OC of this story. I wonder if that makes me Riku's owner by proxy...

Warnings: This fiction contains and is not limited to boy/boy moments, the use and abuse of stereotypes, hints at original pairings, very despicable people, emo-Riku, lustful teenagers, underage drinking, a mix of the last two points, questionable situations, morally ambiguous choices and a few, occasional and really shy attempts at humor.

Chapter 12: Family Matters

Riku had spent most of the evening staring at the content of his dish without really seeing it, far too absorbed in his thoughts to realize that his mother had asked him how the Struggle tryouts had been.

"Uh? Oh, fine, thanks." he finally muttered absent-mindedly, while playing with a pea with his fork. He realized that he had a stupid smile plastered on his face, but he couldn't make it go away for as much as he tried.

His mother looked at him inquiringly. "All right, sweetie, what's his name?"

Riku's fork slipped from his hand. "What are you talking about?" he answered, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Rei rolled her eyes. "Come on, Riku, you have that look. It spells clearly 'I'm totally in love like a helpless teenage girl'. That, or you've found such an interest in my cuisine to justify your staring at it with that stupid smile..."

"I don't know what you're referring to, I'm just thinking about... about the Struggle tryouts, that's it."

Rei looked motherly at him. "I think it's great that you've finally found a boyfriend. You should invite him for dinner so that we may meet him."

"Sora is not my boyfriend!"

Riku realized too late that he had incautiously let slip Sora's name. He could see his mom's eyes starting to glitter. "Sora? So that's his name?"

"No-no-no! It's just the guy who got me into the Struggle tryouts!"

"Then you should really like him, if he managed to get you back into a sport team."

His father, that until that moment had been content with reading his newspaper while smoking his pipe, lifted his eyes and looked at the ceiling, thoughtful. "Struggle team... Struggle team..." he muttered a couple of times. Then realization lighted his face. "Oh, I see, he must be one of those beefy, muscular guys. You like them manly, then."

Riku wondered what where the odds of a lightning striking him right there at that precise moment. Pretty low probably and, anyway, he never was that lucky... which meant he had to find another way out of that situation.

"No dad." he calmly explained, desperate to conclude as fast as possible that embarrassing discussion. "He's kinda scrawny, actually. You wouldn't picture him in a Struggle team."

"Of course he is, dear." Rei explained to his husband. "Riku likes them cute, don't you remember Roxas?"

Great, just when he was thinking that the discussion couldn't get more awkward. "Mom, let's just not talk about him, please!"

"Riku, every experience, good or bad, is a step towards the future. Trying to forget the past only means that you'll keep repeating the same mistakes." She looked disappointed, but still dropped the subject. "So, when you'll invite Sora for dinner?"

"When the two of you won't be home, probably."

"So you do plan on bringing him on a date, that's great."

"Wait, that's not what I meant..."

"We should find a moment to talk about 'bees and flowers' though." she added seriously. She then stood up, collected the dishes and disappeared into the kitchen. A second later her voice was audible from the other room. "Actually, I guess it should be more like 'bees and bees', right dear?"

"I don't know, Rei, I've never really understood those metaphors for sex." Then, his father's face disappeared back into the newspaper, much to Riku's relief: the last thing he wanted was starting to discuss the pleasures of homosexual intercourse with his parents.

He thought that that was as good as any other moment to slip away from the dining table. After all, the Struggle tryouts had been longer and more tiring than he had first realized and now he just wanted to get a well-deserved rest. He managed to sneak into his own room without getting any more embarrassing questions from his parents.

And for that he couldn't be more thankful.

Roxas was sitting at the dinner table with his family. That evening, Cloud's girlfriend was having dinner with them. Roxas liked her, always smiling and able to give a sense of peace to everyone around her.

What he didn't like, what was she represented for his family.

"Oh, Aerith, it's so nice to have you here for dinner." his mother chirped.

'Roxas has never brought a girl home!' Roxas understood.

"How long have the two of you been a couple, now? Four years?"

'Learn from them, Roxas!'

"I'd love so much to have grand-children, one day..."

'Something you will never give us, Roxas!'

Every single sentence was a little stab directed at him, Roxas knew that. Unfortunately for his parents, he considered himself way too smart to reply to those childish taunts.

Just like every evening that Aerith was with them, he ate as fast as he could and found a half-assed excuse to safely retreat to his own room.

That evening, though, his plans were fated to go differently.

"Who's there?" Roxas asked the moment he heard someone knocking at his door.

"It's me. Can I come in?"

His brother's voice surprised him. He had left the dining table half an hour before, which meant that by then the dinner had to be over. That didn't explain, however, why Cloud had come to his room instead of keeping company to his girlfriend.

"Door's opened." he answered surly.

From his bed, he observed his big brother looking around him before picking a chair. "Is your 'headache' going better?"

From the way he had asked it, Roxas was sure that Cloud knew very well that the reason he had retreated was not really a 'headache'. "Uh, it has suddenly got a lot worse right now." He then proceeded to theatrically put a hand on his forehead.

"Come on, Rox. I'm on your side, you know."

Those words were leaving little room for evasive answers. Roxas looked away. "There are no 'sides' to pick. Mom and dad are jerks, simple as that."

Cloud sighed. He wasn't someone known for his patience, so Roxas understood immediately how much coming there must have costed him. "They just need more time to accept the situation. It's not easy for them..."

"It's not easy for them?" Roxas nearly shouted, losing his usual cool. "What about me, then? You think it's easy for me?"

A second sigh. He realized that he was pushing Cloud's limits, but he didn't really care at the moment. "Listen Roxas! I didn't come here to pick a fight with you..."

"Why did you come here, then?" Their respective volume of voice was rising considerably, but none of them seemed to realize it.

"I'm starting to ask myself the same question."

"Ask yourself what you want, just do it out of my room, thanks!"

"Fine, have it your way, then!"

A second later, Cloud exited the room, the door slamming behind him.

Roxas stared for a while at the closed door, unconsciously gnashing his teeth. He stayed like that for at least five whole minutes, before finally grabbing his phone and punching in a message for Sora.

'We'll have to take the schoolbus tomorrow, got into a fight with my brother.' he quickly texted. Less than a minute later, the phone started to ring.

"Sora? What's going on?" he asked, surprised by the call.

"I just got your message." a worried voice answered from the other side of the phone. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, sure... nothing serious." Roxas quickly answered, not having expected to have to explain what was going on with Cloud.

A few seconds of silence ensued before Sora's voice was audible again. "Want to talk about it?"

Roxas felt conflicted. He surely needed someone to talk to, and not only about his outburst with Cloud. Since he had met him -a measly couple of weeks before- he had felt like Sora was someone that could be trusted. And for a second he nearly did it, just before biting his tongue.

"No, it's nothing important, thanks." he cut short the discussion, not managing to shake off the feeling to have thrown away a great occasion. "So, we'll meet tomorrow at the bus stop?"

Another brief silence, during which, Roxas was sure, Sora must have pondered if pushing the matter further or not. "...alright, then. Sure, why not. I wonder if we'll meet Riku on the bus..."

Realization hit Roxas like a ton of bricks. He couldn't believe he hadn't even thought to that. To think he had originally started taking rides from his brother specifically to avoid facing his ex-best friend...

Then again, it wasn't like he had something against Riku... actually, it was the other way around. And Sora had forced the two of them to sign a truce, so maybe that situation was for the best... After all, nothing would please him more than to mend his friendship with Riku.

"...I guess it's a possibility." he concluded evasively. A moment later he talked again. "Hey, Sora?" he started, not quite sure of what he was going to say.

"Mmh?"

"It may sound a little girlish, but... I'm glad that we're friends." he blurted instinctively, unable to restrain himself.

He heard laughing from the other side. Not a mocking laugh, though. "I am too. And don't worry about Riku, he's a knucklehead, but you two will sort things out, I'm sure of it."

"Thanks. Night, Sora."

And with those words, Roxas ended the call before taking the risk of saying something embarrassing. More embarrassing.

That same evening, Riku quickly discovered himself unable to fall asleep. He was tired, undoubtedly in need of a good rest after all of the physical activity of the day. And yet he was keeping on rolling in his bed.

The problem was that every time he was closing his eyes, Sora's face kept on popping up in his mind. That was all his mom's fault, he was sure of that!

"I don't like Sora!" he said to himself, trying to brush away whatever unconventional thoughts may surface on his mind.

"You keep telling yourself that, sweetie!" Rei's voice boomed from the next room, making Riku's hands instinctively cover his mouth.

'I don't like Sora.' he repeated, just in his mind this time. 'I can't really say that I hate him, granted. I may even consider him... a friend, maybe? But... I-don't-like-him!'

Half an hour later -and with Sora still lingering in his thoughts- Riku finally fell asleep.

End Notes: I know I say this a lot, but... I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. And the next one too, just so you know :).

Preview: The time has come to look back at Roxas' past.

Next Chapter: A Lonely Boy's Story