dedication: to all my friends from who have supported me, helped me, talked to me, and read my works. i love you all and wish I had enough time to write you all something as a gift, but I must settle upon giving you all this... as a sort of small, christmas gift.

Accidental

They were riding home on Christmas Eve on a snowy night. Colossal snowflakes cascaded down from the clouds, gently blanking the cold, barren ground. The ground was beginning to become a fully covered by the festive, last minute flurry. Roads were becoming treacherous and difficult to maneuver through. The driver this never was the nineteen year old Riku Karada. The teenager's soft, silver hair was pulled back into a black elastic, falling barely down onto his back. Sharp, aquamarine hues stared attentively at the back road they were currently traveling upon.

"I cannot believe you had to work tonight," Riku complained in a lofty voice as the car jerked to the right, avoiding a pile of ice that had accumulated on the ground.

"I know," the brunet beside him agreed with a gentle sigh. "I don't know why they scheduled me. There were absolutely no sales." The brunet groaned audibly as he fiddled with the strap of his seatbelt.

"Oh well. At least you're done now," answered Riku with a dismal shrug.

Sora shifted in the passenger's seat. "Thanks for giving me a ride," Sora said with a softened smile.

Riku nodded at his friend. "The roads are horrible," the silveret complained. Although his eyes were on the slippery, tricky road, his mind was constantly on the brunet beside him. How wonderful would it be to spend his entire holiday with his friend? But, perhaps, more than friends. Maybe, just maybe, it'd happen someday.

"Did you know that Kairi is dating Hayner?" asked Sora as he stiffened a bit in his seat. Kairi, Riku, and Sora had been best friends since freshman year and for one of the three to get a significant other meant big news for the other two of the group. It was only natural that Sora ask if Riku had heard.

"No, I didn't," Riku responded as he glanced over to the side, briefly taking his eyes off the road to stare at Sora "Does it bother you?" Compassion flickered into his usual stoic hues.

"Not really," Sora answered honestly with a shrug as he laced his small, tan hands in his lap. "I haven't liked her since freshman year. I sort of grew out of my crush quickly. It's not even worth mentioning anymore."

Riku snickered. "Really? Is that so?"

"Yes/really/! …Why? Do you like her?" Sora demanded as he stuck out his tongue at the older male beside him. It would make sense, after all. Riku had never state whether he liked their third wheel or not. It was only natural, as well, that Sora ask if Riku liked her.

"Nope."

Sora frowned. "Are you lacking the gene or something? You don't like /anyone/. I've never seen you like anyone, I mean. Do you just not get attracted to people?" Sora asked, his eyes blinking curiously over at Riku. All he spoke was the truth and Sora was dead set on figuring out why it was.

"I do like someone," Riku pointed out as he flexed his hands on the steering wheel, easing up his tense grip as he cautiously made his way around a tough corner. "Just not Kairi."

Sora gaped. "Who?"

"Not telling you. You'd laugh," Riku answered nonchalantly with a dismal shrug of his shoulders. The silveret stared despondently out at the snowy roads before him, attempting to concentrate. It was so damn hard though with Sora right beside him, all vulnerable and such. Hell, Riku could pull the car over at any given moment and ravish the brunet senseless.

"Come on, Riku! We're best friends! You have to trust me!" Sora urged as he huffed loudly, crossing his arms to his chest, over his seatbelt.

"Nope," said Riku.

"It can't be as bad as my crush, Riku!" Sora declared loudly as Riku's thoughts paused. Sora liked someone? Riku's mind went a bit fuzzy as he gripped tighter onto the wheel, not really paying any attention at all to the road any longer. "I mean, it's not even a girl for heaven's sake! So how bad can yours be?" Sora wasn't aware of just how much he had said.

Riku was, though. The silveret's eyes widened as he slammed down onto the brake. He needed to talk to Sora, now. Of course, the moment he did slam on the brake, the car jerked violently to the left, sliding on the icy road beneath them. Sora hollered loudly as he gripped onto Riku's right arm as the car spun around in a complete circle. Sora's eyes fastened shut as he felt their bodies going round and round in circles as the car tumbled off the side of the road, amazingly not rolling over or deploying airbags. Not even Sora's yells could be heard over the screeching of the tires and the fear that screamed so loudly in both their ears.

When the car finally skidded to a stop a few feet away from the road, Sora began hyperventilating. Everything that had been on the dashboard was now scattered about the car, on the floor and on the backseats. Sora shuddered violently as he buried his face into Riku's arms, hot tears prickling in the corner of his eyes as Riku shakily tuned the engine off.

Silence.

Sora breathed in and out, his chest rapidly inflating and deflating at insane speeds. Blue hues remained clamped close as he sat there, his body twisted as he silently sobbed into Riku's arm, not once daring to move away from his friend's warmth. They hadn't caused an accident and they weren't hurt. All they had done was slide off the road onto the snowy grass. It wasn't that bad, really.

"Sora?" Riku dared to ask, attempting to remain calm and gentle. Cautious green eyes flickered down to the brunet whose hands were tightly gripping his sleeve, refusing to break away. "Sora, it's fine. Everything's fine. We just spun out."

"You could of killed us!" Sora bellowed as he kept his face hidden.

"I didn't," Riku returned with a sigh. "We just spun out, that's all," Riku repeated as he frowned down at his friend. "You distracted me, okay? I wasn't really expecting you to randomly inform me that you were gay. I'm sorry if that came as a shock."

Sora visibly stiffened. "I…what?" Sora gulped and looked upwards, his eyes meeting Riku's nervously. "Oh god…I said that, didn't I?" Riku nodded. Sora at once looked off to the right. "I thought we were gonna die, you know. My heart stopped beating and I closed my eyes. All I could think about were…were regrets."

"People tend to do that," Riku mused as he timorously reached out, threading his fingers comfortingly through Sora's brown locks of hair. "I'm sorry, Sora. I didn't realize that the car would do that."

Sora sighed and found himself pleasantly moving into Riku's warm touches in his hair. "I know…I was just scared, okay? I know you're a safe driver…I just…didn't wanna die…"

"No one does," Riku reasoned as he lightly massaged the brunet's scalp, his stoic demeanor melting along with the snowflakes that hit the windshield.

"I know that," Sora murmured and lowered his gaze. "I meant…dying without telling people stuff that I really want to. That sort of thing, you know?" Sora chanced a glance back up at Riku, noticing a furtive glimmer in his friend's eyes.

"Then why don't you start telling them? Just incase you never get the chance to down the road. I mean, life can end at any time, right? We just proved that." Riku gestured to the road they had been traveling on moments prior. For now, everything was peaceful once more. It was just him and Sora, alone in his car, on Christmas eve, on the side of the road while it snowed. All alone…

"It's not that easy, though!" Sora shook his head and puffed out his cheeks.

"I'm sure," Riku said and rolled his eyes. "I'm so sure."

Silence…and then, "Riku…if you had died…without me, I mean, I don't know what I would have done," Sora whispered brokenly, fingers twitching in his lap as he shifted a bit, undoing his seatbelt so he could edge closer to his older friend. "I couldn't live without you…I'd probably die."

"How sentimental," Riku cooed mockingly, his heart breaking a thousand times over.

"Riku!" Sora snapped and angrily grabbed Riku's hand. The one that had been in his hair. Impulsively, Sora laced their fingers together and stared wide-eyed at the silveret. "Do you not believe me or something?" Sora complained with a now fixed glare.

"Eh…" Riku shrugged and tried his best to keep his gaze off their intertwined fingers. "Depends. What do you want me to believe?"

"That you matter a lot to me! And either of us could have just died! Don't you see what that would have done to me, Riku?! I could have lost you!" Sora cried, invisible tears streaming from his eyes as his voice cracked, obviously strained from the trauma they had just gone through on such a joyous night as this.

"You didn't," Riku reasoned, his voice a bit hesitant. What was wrong with Sora?

"You jerk," Sora snapped as he looked away sharply. "I'm pouring my heart out here and all you have to say is something sarcastic!" Sora was getting enraged.

"How are you pouring your heart out? All you're doing is stating the obvious, Sora," Riku noted and shrugged again, trying to calm his friend down. The snow was falling harder and Sora's grip on Riku's hand grew tenfold.

"So now it's obvious that I love you?! That's really good, Riku. I didn't realize I was that … obvious!" Sora remarked and brokenly looked towards the passenger's window, staring at the falling snow, suddenly finding it ten times more interesting than Riku. This wasn't going well. Stupid Riku. Stupid ice. Stupid Christmas Eve.

"Sora…"

"I don't need to hear it, Riku…I just don't," whispered Sora, his voice cracking once more as he loosely held Riku's hand, about to break their connection—emotionally and physically.

"Love?"

"What about it?" Sora asked, his voice as gentle as the snow outside.

"You said you loved me. Since when?"

"Since ever, you moron," muttered Sora as he embarrassedly kept his gaze away from Riku's. "I thought you knew…"

"I didn't."

"You…didn't?" Sora looked to Riku at last and stared blankly at Riku. "Tidus…and Kairi told me that you knew and you didn't care and that you …didn't like me. So…I figured that you already knew so I just…Oh….oops," Sora gulped and looked away harshly, his cheeks a scorching red as he began to swear under his breath.

"Hey…" Riku let go of Sora's hand. Riku watched a frown appear on Sora's face as the brunet attempted to fight back the tears. Instead of relacing their fingers, Riku relocated his hand gracefully onto Sora's cheek. "Don't worry, I'm not mad or anything like that."

"I know…you're just freaked out. It's fine."

Riku chuckled under his breath and turned Sora's cheek towards his line of vision. Nervously, Sora allowed their eyes to meet once again. "Have I ever once given you reason to date what I feel about you?"

"What you feel about me?" Sora answered, sounding akin to a parrot.

"I nearly spun the car out when I heard you were gay. That obviously proves something," Riku went on to say, his eyes never once flickering away from Sora's intense blue ones.

"That you're…homophobic?" Sora reasoned and shrugged, not really catching on. The brunet laughed under his breath and went on to say, "It's fine, really, Riku. You're still my best friend and I get if you don't wanna hang out with me as much. I mean, I am gay so I guess…I deserve it?"

Riku groaned and brushed his thumb along the curve of Sora's cheek, silencing the brunet. "I slammed on the brakes because for the past year I thought you were in love with Kairi and that I didn't stand a chance, you moron."

Sora blinked. "No…"

"No what?"

"No…as in no way. As in I don't believe you," Sora repeated, his voice not daring to rise above a whisper.

Riku rolled his eyes and dropped his hand from Sora's cheek. "If you don't believe it when I say it…then," Riku leaned impossibly closer until a few inches separated him and his best friend as they sat in the spun out car, "then maybe I should just show you? I mean, it's gonna take a while to get the car back on the road…and your mom isn't expecting you back home for a few hours…so we have all the time in the world to make you understand and believe."

Sora squeaked in pure surprise when Riku finished his statement by teasingly licking the length of Sora's bottom lip. The brunet pulled back a bit, a bright red as he touched his lips. "…Stop teasing me, you jerk!"

Sora was being ridiculous…again. Riku moaned aloud and reached out, snagging both of Sora's wrists and yanking the brunet back towards him. Within moments they had their bodies crushed together, albeit the cup holder that separated them from pure bliss. "Why do you think I'm lying?" Riku wondered, too close for comfort.

"Because you…you…"

"Because I talk in circles?" Riku questioned and kissed the corner of Sora's mouth, relishing in the way his frightened friend shivered and nearly convulsed from the innocent touch. "Or because you're afraid that how I feel about you isn't what you were expecting? Which one?"

"I…" Sora squeaked and looked away when Riku kissed his nose.

"I adore you, Sora. I really do," he whispered into the air and kissed Sora's lips chastely, allowing the kiss to linger as the pure white snow fell. Sora's eyes widened and then fluttered shut, allowing the feel of Riku's lips against his to soak into every single part of his being. His toes curled and his breath hitched as they sat there for a few moments, just with their lips pressed together. All was beautifully silent on this Christmas eve until Riku whispered. "I adore you because love is entirely overrated and adore is so much more meaningful."

And with that, Riku kissed Sora breathless, making up for everything he had ever put him through. Including the almost-accident moments prior. Everything was beautiful…everything was perfect… it was a Christmas miracle in disguise, truly.