Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Also, I do not give dancing lessons, so stop asking, please.

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 20: No Name - Part 2

Sora had always considered himself a patient guy. For example, take that time when he had spent an entire night keeping Zell's head as he just kept on puking: had he complained back then? Or the time he had waited for two hours under the rain that the police would release Leon? Nope, he had not! Hell, he had spent half of his life in detention and never complained once! Because, in truth, Sora was a really, really patient guy.

...but the fact that Kairi kept on grinding on him was definitively trying his patience.

He had started dancing with her just to bring her away from Riku. He had expected that she could have possibly tried to make a move on him, but not that blatantly.

And so, after the fourth time in ten minutes that she had tried to kiss him -and he had nimbly avoided her- Sora finally cracked.

"Kairi! I won't kiss you!"

The cute redhead stared at him, clearly astonished that someone could turn down her pass. When it seemed clear that she had no idea of the reason why he refused to kiss her, Sora patiently tried to explain. "Riku's here. Do you really think it would be nice to make out in front of him?"

In less than thirty seconds, Kairi's face gradually took all of the colors of the rainbow, starting from an embarrassed red, passing through a pale white and finally setting on a nice shade of raging green. Immediately after, though, a devilish smile started to delineate on her face. Sora didn't like it.

"Come on, you can relax." she purred, putting her hands around Sora's shoulders, who did nothing to reciprocate the gesture. "He won't see us in the middle of the crowd, let's just have some fun. Besides..." her smile got bigger. "You owe him nothing."

Sora was slightly taken aback by those words. It was true that he barely knew Riku and it wasn't like Kairi was 'Riku's property' or something like that. But still, he couldn't help but feel that by indulging in Kairi's flirting he would have kind of betrayed his friend. Besides, he had a more important reason for not wanting to kiss her...

"Alright then." he murmured, and for a second the girl's face lit up. "Considering that you don't seem to understand it this way, I'll say it clearly: I don't like you."

It took another thirty seconds for Kairi to understand the meaning of those words, but when she finally realized, she let go of him immediately.

"Fine!" she answered outraged. "It looks like Seifer was right then." she spat mercilessly.

"Sorry, what was that?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow, unable to avoid the obvious bait.

"Oh, only that maybe the reason that you spend so much time with Riku is because you're just like him." She looked fiercely into Sora's eyes before ending her sentence. "Just another loser gay boy!"

Sora's whole body stiffened at those words, but he managed to force himself not to lose his cool. "Kairi. You need to accept the fact that if someone doesn't like you, that doesn't make them necessarily gay." He then turned around and started walking away, frankly disgusted by the attitude of the girl.

"Say it!"

Sora felt a forceful hand on his shoulder, forcing him to face Kairi again. She was staring at him, searching -vainly- for any sign of weakness she could find. "Just say that you don't like him! Say that you don't like Riku!"

And Sora couldn't help but look away for a split second. That was all Kairi wanted and so she let go him. "I knew it. You're gay!"

"Whatever." Sora answered, in all seriousness. "If that makes you feel better, think what you want."

And then, he simply walked away.

Roxas was keeping on looking at his phone, waiting for the time to pass so that he could go home. He had found shelter on a sofa on the second floor of the club: being much more crowded than the first one, he considered it a much better hiding spot. He just had to wait for a few hours, then search for his friends and tell them that he was going home.

He couldn't help but feel ridiculous at the idea of hiding that way, but all of the confidence he had managed to build up before coming there had quickly crumbled away: he was simply too embarrassed to plainly admit that he wasn't able to dance.

He was trying to come up with a nice excuse for having disappeared since the beginning of the evening, when someone started calling him, making his skin crawls.

"Roxas! Is that you?"

"So... Sora. What a surprise." he answered when he saw the brunet making his way across the people to reach him. "What are you doing here?"

Sora looked at him curiously. "Had to cool off for a while. What about you? Haven't seen you since the beginning of the evening."

"Oh, I... just wanted to check the second floor." he answered elusively, hoping that Sora wouldn't start inquiring how much time he had spent there on his own.

"Is... something the matter?" he asked, honestly curious. "You seem a little off."

"I'm fine." Roxas answered, far too quickly to sound sincere.

Sora's eyes looked him up and down before he the boy spoke again. "Are you avoiding someone?"

"I'm fine." he quickly repeated, just slightly irritated at his friend's insistence.

"Alright then, let's go drink something, I need to stop thinking for a while."

Roxas gulped, and he was happy that the loud music had most certainly covered the gulping sound of his throat: he knew that getting wasted would have put him at risk of saying -or doing- something inconvenient. "I'm... not thirsty."

"I'll let you choose: you pick something to drink, or I choose it for you."

"No, wait, I'm serious, I don't..."

"Ok, then." Sora answered without waiting any longer, and in less than a moment he had already disappeared in the general direction of the bar counter. Before Roxas had the time to realize what was going on, he was already back, holding two pub glasses.

"Here." Sora exclaimed shoving one of the two drinks into his friend's hands.

Roxas observed the content of his glass carefully: a small shot glass filled with brown liquid was floating in the first one, barely masked by a yellowish liquid surrounding it.

"What's this?" he asked, not thrilled at the idea of drinking whatever-that-was.

"A glass." Sora answered nonchalantly. "Just stop asking questions and drink it!"

Roxas was taken aback by that answer. Left with no other choices, he started to timidly sip at his drink. The first gulp felt kind of strange, but when he realized that he hadn't felt the distinctive taste of alcohol, he relaxed a little and took down a big gulp.

Sora, on his side, had already drunk his own and was grinning at his friend. "That's more like it. You like it, isn't it?"

"It's... not bad." Roxas finally admitted after finishing his own. "So, what was it?"

"Jägerbomb. It's a drink made by using energy drinks, good to recharge you. I was sure you'd like it." Sora poked at his empty glass. "Ready for round two, then?"

Considering how he had just emptied an entire glass and was feeling perfectly fine, Roxas concluded that, whatever that was, it had to be non-alcoholic. "Sure, why not?"

Those would have been the last three words that he would have remembered having pronounced that evening.

Riku reached a small table with a couple of cocktails in his hands. He took place next to Larxene, who seemed unusually interested in whatever Axel and Saïx were discussing.

"Your cocktail, Larx."

"My, my." the girl answered grinning. "Such a gentleman, Riku! Some people could learn a thing or two from you."

"Nice try. It's fifteen."

She looked at him, pretending to be offended by that affirmation. "Fifteen?! That's outrageous, I had thought that they would have lowered the prices the day of the grand opening."

"They have. That's why I said 'fifteen'."

Grumbling, Larxene paid her dues and started sipping the cocktail, her usual grumpy attitude more evident than ever.

"Ten bucks that she'll do it in the next ten minutes."

"Double that it will happen in just five minutes."

Riku moved closer to Larxene while observing Axel and Saïx. "What are those two betting on, this time?"

"You see Seifer dancing with that girl over there?"

"Yep."

"They're wondering how much time it will take her."

"To kiss him?"

"To slap him."

Riku laughed and couldn't help but take part in the bet. For once, he was honestly enjoying the evening (a couple of drinks helping). Until now, he had completely forgotten how Axel, Saïx and Larxene could be fun, especially when neither Seifer nor Kairi were around. Speaking of the latter...

The thought of his ex-girlfriend suddenly troubled him: he had last seen her dancing with Sora and both of them were nowhere to be seen at the moment. Sure, Sora had every right to spend time with Kairi, but for some reasons that idea was definitively... unsettling. And the more time was passing, the need to discover what those two were up to was becoming more and more prominent in his head.

And that's why, a few minutes later, he decided to go look for them. Just out of curiosity, of course. No other reasons.

"Where are you going, man? The show is still going on!" Axel shouted when he realized that the silver-haired boy was walking away.

"Just need to go to the toilet, I'll be right back." Riku lied calmly. He then immediately started to look for Kairi and Sora.

Fifteen minutes and two more drinks later, Sora and a really relaxed Roxas were sitting quietly on the small sofa in the middle of the second floor of the 'No Name'.

"So, what's the deal?" Sora asked out of the blue, considering that that was the right moment to investigate Roxas' thoughts.

"Don't play dumb!" he quickly added at the dumbfounded expression plastered on the blond boy's face. "Why were you staying here all by yourself?"

As an answer, Roxas blinked a couple of times. "Stop moving!" he exclaimed suddenly.

Sora looked confused at himself, checking if he really was somehow wobbling. Without waiting for an answer, Roxas burst into a clamorous laugh. "Oh god, it's not you, it's me that's wowin... mowin...". He stuttered for nearly thirty seconds before finally managing to end his sentence. Sora looked at him speechless.

"Oh my... just how much had you drunk before I got here?"

"Half of a bier, why?"

"You're high as a kite, that's why!" he said astonished, but at the same time also discretely amused by the situation. Talking about people with a low alcohol tolerance.

...then again, if Roxas was at least half as similar to Riku as he suspected, the chances that he would open a bit more immediately sky-rocketed.

"Sora, I can't dance!"

Well, that was fast. "That's all? That's the reason you were hiding here?"

"Don't say it like it's nothing!" Roxas pouted. He would've seemed serious, if it wasn't for a funny hiccup that was keeping on interrupting his sentences. "It's a big deal for me."

"Roxas." Sora explained patiently. "Everyone can dance, some are better than others but everyone can move following some kind of rhythm, I can assure you."

"Well, I can't."

Sora sighed. Then, without waiting one more second, he stood up grabbing Roxas' wrist. "Alright then, come with me."

The other boy looked at him fazed, but he obeyed. "Where are we going, Sora?"

"Teaching you how to dance, silly."

"What, no way!" Roxas protested. Still, he didn't put up any resistance and followed him.

Once the two of them had reached the middle of the dance floor, Sora immediately started to move at the rhythm of the music that was playing in the background. "'That's the Way', uh? Kinda fitting when you think about it."

He stopped just a few seconds later, when he realized that the other boy was standing there, frozen in place, his eyes fixed on him.

"Roxas? You there?"

No answer.

Sora sighed. "My, my. A bit shy, aren't we?"

Still no answer. It seemed like Roxas had completely lost control of his body.

"Alright, then, we'll start from the basics. Just start by taking a deep breath."

Roxas obeyed easily enough and Sora could see his shoulders relax a little.

"Cool. Now, close your eyes!" At his inquisitive expression, Sora smiled. "Just trust me, ok?"

Reluctantly, the blond boy complied. He instinctively opened them for a split second when he felt Sora's hands on his hips, but he quickly closed them again.

"Try to focus on the music. Just on the music, think of nothing else but that and forget where you are." Slightly, nearly imperceptibly, Sora started to move Roxas' hips right and left, the boys' feet following close. "I'm giving you a rhythm." he explained patiently. "Just think of... a metronome. It's always the same rhythm. And I'm synchronizing you with that."

When he felt that Roxas was starting to relax a little bit more, Sora let go of his hips. "There! You're doing it on your own, now."

Roxas was keeping his eyes close and didn't seem intentioned to open them any time soon. Well, if that was giving him just a little bit of confidence, so be it.

"Now..." Sora kept going, intentioned to take full advantage of the moment. "Try to move your shoulders with your hips. Not necessarily the same way, just at the same time."

He observed carefully the blond boy timidly starting to move clumsily. After a couple of minutes, he seemed to have finally found a few movements that pleased him and was starting to move more naturally.

"When you feel like it, you can also move a little your arms and head." He paused to observe his friend listening to his suggestions. He wasn't bad at all, actually: his style was a bit... rudimental, but he surely had potential.

"Now, just open your eyes."

After a moment of hesitation, Roxas obeyed. From his surprised look, Sora deduced that he was just starting to realize that, yes, he was actually dancing. He froze in place a second later.

"What's the matter? You were doing it."

"Don't... don't look at me!" Roxas answered back, making Sora starting to laugh.

"Alright, Roxas, I've been patient until now." he said midway through amused and exasperated. "Now stop whining and start to fucking move!"

And for the first time in years, Roxas really let himself go and started to dance.

They went on for a few songs, then the music changed drastically.

"Want to go sit for a moment?" Sora asked.

Roxas took a moment to look around him before talking again. "Sora, I have... something to ask you." He looked embarrassed, then again his flush might easily be explained by the quantity of alcohol that he had ingested in the last hour. "This song... it's a lento."

"That's why I asked you if you wanted to take a breath."

"Would... uhm..." It seemed that whatever was on Roxas' mind was costing him an enormous effort to say it. "Do you think you could teach me how to dance to this kind of music?"

Sora looked at him skeptical. "It's the same, it's just that it's slower and you usually do it with someone else. Can't you see that there are only couples around us?"

The moment the words were out of his mouth, he realized why Roxas was being embarrassed: he was asking him to dance a lento with him. He couldn't help but blush at the realization. Damn, that was the second time that someone had managed to make him blush in the same evening.

"You... you're right, so... sorry about that." Roxas muttered defensively. "I don't know why I asked that, really."

Sora looked at him making up excuses and couldn't help but think that he was somehow cute. He quickly threw a glance around them; good, none from their group was there. "Alright, we'll do it, but it will stay between you and me, alright?"

And that's how Roxas awkwardly found himself in the arms of his friend, blushing so furiously that steam was starting to come out from his ears. He knew he had to break that silence, so he said, as if it meant anything at all: "Uh... thanks, Sora."

"Don't mention it." Sora answered chuckling. "Ever... to anyone!"

Riku didn't know how long he had walked around searching for Sora and Kairi. He didn't know when he had got the bad idea of checking the second floor. And he didn't know why he had reacted the way he had.

But the fact was that when he had reached the second floor, he had seen his ex-best friend and his actual-best friend dancing to a lento, the two of them so intertwined together that it was difficult to understand when one ended and the other started.

And, more importantly, he didn't know why he had felt that burst of jealousy towards the two of them.

What he did know, was that he had to observe them without getting caught. He had to make a superhuman effort to restrain himself to reach and separate them by force when they stopped moving and stared at each other for ten interminable seconds. Until the moment their faces started to get closer, slowly, and the full consciousness of what was going on hit him like a ton of bricks.

He looked at Sora and Roxas sharing a passionate kiss.

And that was the moment he left the club.

End Notes: Wow, huge chapter, for length and contents! So... I was waiting for a long time to tell this part of the story and I know that most people would probably not like it. That said, I'm just asking one thing: give time to the story! Just keep reading and you'll see that there's a reason this is happening. Until then... please, forgive me for torturing my characters ;).

Preview: Title says it all...

Next Chapter: A Long Overdue Confrontation