Author's Note: Umm, yes. So I realize that I shouldn't start this when I have just started another story not long ago, but this idea has been bugging me for a long time. My other story (which is a Naruto fic if you want to check it out) will be taking precedent over this one, so expect long waits in-between chapters unless I get very suddenly inspired for this. But, it won't be killed off unless nobody likes this story, which I'm hoping won't happen because it's become my baby and I want people to like this. I'm hoping this will have a much lighter tone than my other KH fic (which should be easy considering neither of the boys will be angsting over each other just yet). Anyway, thanks for stoping by and I hope that you all like this!
Disclaimer: still don't own KH, but that doesn't stop me from writing about it :)
Chapter 1
Love is never easy for anyone. Well…maybe for some people it's easy, but they were just part of that less than one percent of the world's population that found true love and never needed anyone else. Sora knew for a fact that he was not part of that less than one percentile, and also happened to know that he was part of yet another obscure percentile in the world of love. And that would be the one in which he was destined to ruin every relationship he ever began.
It had all started in second grade with a girl named Lisa. She was nice enough and got along well with everyone. The only thing Sora really remembered about her was that she had freckles and always wore her hair in neatly braided pigtails. Anyway, Lisa was a good friend of Sora's, who was also rather well liked and friendly with everyone, and one day Lisa declared that they were going steady. Unfortunately, the relationship ended in that fickle way second graders always end it when the girl decided she liked what another boy had better. She was only after Sora's Tasty Cakes after all, and once his mom had decided he should replace them with carrots (his favorite vegetable that he didn't really mind having in place of his favorite treat), it was all down hill from there. Lisa had shown up the next day, ignoring Sora completely and sidling up to a boy who was gladly sharing his Tasty Cakes with her. Needless to say, they were over after that.
Although second grade Sora didn't mind this turn of events so much, second grade Sora didn't realize the amount of relationships he would go through that would end in much the same way (although they weren't all about another boy with Tasty Cakes…except for one, but Agnes was a strange and fickle girl who had an unnerving penchant for Tasty Cakes; Sora was actually quite glad when that one was over).
And so, through much trial and error (lots and lots of error) and many a failed relationship, Sora was now currently single. He had been, for the past year, trying to get over his latest relationship, and he had secretly made a pact with himself not to dive into any new relationships so soon. Sora had kept the promise to himself, but with the start of a new year coming up, he was beginning to feel lonely. There isn't much fun in life between just working two jobs he didn't really like and sulking about his lack of love life. Well, there were his friends, but he could barely find any time to go out with them anyway because of his two jobs.
In any case, despite his "packed" schedule and apparent utter lack of social life, Sora had miraculously ended up with two days off of both his jobs on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and, typically, had no place to go as a result of the sudden and miraculous occurrence.
Sora pondered on what he should do with his two days off in the last half hour of his shift for the day. Party was an obvious one, as was drinking. The only question was who with. As he heard something shatter, Sora quickly decided that he could think about this later and began picking up pieces of a broken plate.
Sora's two jobs consisted of working in a coffee shop in the mornings and sometimes the afternoons, and working as a bus boy in a rather expensive restaurant. He was currently at the latter, which was possibly the worse of the two to be distracted in. (He could potentially be burned by scalding coffee if he spilt it on himself at the first, but his boss was pretty good about not making him pay for the lost coffee. At the other, while he could be cut occasionally by the stray steak knife or broken plate, he would lose pay if he ever happened to break anything.) Unfortunately, tonight was not his night, and he managed to break one wine glass and three china plates, all of which were to come out of his pay.
After work (and an unnecessarily long and loud rant from his boss about being careful with the dishes and a threat to take back his two vacation days), Sora mentally counted the cost and subtracted it from the total money he would make. He groaned. He would just barely be able to make rent, and it obviously wouldn't leave much for groceries, if any at all. Hmmm…maybe he could mooch some food off of Naminé and Roxas? The twins were always welcome to having Sora over and they normally took care to see that Sora was doing all right.
Maybe he could ask them when he asked what they were doing the next two days…
And so, Sora headed home, ready for a good night's rest after eating what little he had left in his refrigerator (which was two eggs, some cheese, a container of spoiled milk he had yet to throw out, a can of beer, and a half eaten slice of pizza that was slowly cultivating a little family of mold spores; there was a container of ramen in his cupboard as well, but he wanted to save that for tomorrow). He thought of the wonderful parties he would actually be able to attend now that he had the days off, as well as the wonderful food his friends would (hopefully) be able to provide him with. He hadn't expected to arrive at his apartment to see his door cracked open.
(Nor did he expect who it was that had entered his humble (and messy) abode.)
Expecting a burglar, Sora entered his apartment cautiously. Sora didn't live in the nicest area of the city, but he liked to think that his apartment was in a fairly decent neighborhood. It wasn't that he had never heard of one of his fellow apartment dwellers being robbed by the local kids, he just hadn't thought it would happen to him. He normally kept the dead bolt on his door locked, as well as the normal lock on the rusting door knob. He didn't pause to see that the dead bolt hadn't been broken open.
As soon as he slipped inside, Sora heard a rustling and then the dull thump of something being closed. He paused, looked around the tiny entrance that led into his living room, and found an umbrella he had tossed near the door last week after that bad storm that had gone on for three days. He picked up the umbrella as a potential weapon and moved on as quietly as possible, which is a very difficult task for a clumsy person like Sora. Luckily, he was able to make it to the kitchen without incident, which was where the noise had come from. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to see who had broken into his home. Then he jumped around the corner into his kitchen.
In that moment, three things happened:
One: Sora yelled, "I have an umbrella and I'm not afraid to use it!"
Two: the umbrella popped open unexpectedly.
Three: Sora fell over from the surprise; not that tripping over a shirt that had somehow fallen from his laundry basket the last time he went to do his wash and had yet to put away helped.
And then a petite blonde haired girl peeked over the edge of his umbrella with a worried concern in her eyes and a surprised hand to her chest. "Oh my goodness, are you okay?" she asked quickly with her delicate voice.
Sora sighed in relief, leaning his head back to 'thunk' on the floor. It wasn't a burglar, as he had thought, just Naminé. The tiny girl wouldn't hurt a fly, much less rob a house.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied with a grin as she helped him up. "The door was still open a little, so I thought someone broke in."
Naminé brought a tiny hand up to her mouth as a light blush of shame crossed her cheeks. "Did I forget to close the first lock again?"
His door wouldn't stay closed unless the doorknob's lock was fastened.
"Seems like it. Sorry if I scared you by the way," he told her. He closed the umbrella in his hand and gave a mournful sigh in his head.
More bad luck, just what I need, he thought in reference to the umbrella having been opened indoors. He wasn't sure how long the bad luck for that lasted, but knew he already had an infinite amount stacked against him (in his love life anyway).
"Oh, no, it's okay. I'm sorry I scared you too," Naminé said gently, following her friend into the living room where he was putting away the umbrella in his closet.
"It's alright. The umbrella was to blame too, the stupid piece of junk. I need to get a new one," Sora said, throwing the said object into his closet where it popped open again, as if angry with the mistreatment. Sora quickly slammed the door closed. "I knew that thing was possessed. It's on to me."
Naminé giggled. "I'm sure it is Sora. Just like your toaster and the oven."
"Hey! I never did anything to start those fires! They're out to get me, I tell you!" he exclaimed.
She just laughed and nodded. They both knew Sora really was the cause of the fires, not being very adept at safely using an oven at any general time and having "forgotten" that he put a bagel in his toaster once so long that it caught fire from the heat.
"So anyway, now that you've successfully broken into my house, to what do I owe the pleasure of having you here?" Sora asked in a dignified voice that was accompanied by his usual goofy grin. He motioned her over to the worn down couches that spilled stuffing from tiny rips and was covered with stains from spilled drinks. It may have been messy, but it was comfortable and he liked it.
Naminé smiled and took a seat on the right side of the couch. Sora joined her on the left side. "Roxas wanted me to check on you. He's busy right now. I thought your shift might be over soon, so I would just come here and wait for you to get back. I only just got here before you came in with the umbrella."
"He's such a worry-wart, but he never shows it. What's he busy with this time?" Sora asked, knowing that his friend usually came up with excuses and then sent his twin over to investigate. It was just Roxas' way of showing he cared, though he'd never admit it in a million years.
"He really is busy this time though!" Naminé insisted, knowing as well as Sora the excuses her brother usually made. "He has the night shift this time, so he's gone until six tomorrow morning."
Sora shifted a little, sitting straighter. He glanced at his clock. It was only eleven now. "I see. And how is he doing? Is he sleeping enough?"
She shrugged and looked down. "When he can. You know how he is."
"Which means not at all. He should stop taking overnight shifts if it's getting bad."
"You know he won't. He's stubborn like that," she said with another shrug. She looked back up with a little smile. "But enough about that," she was avoiding it and Sora knew it, but let it go, "you need to get some food."
Sora laughed nervously, and scratched the back of his neck. "Uhh, yeah. I know. I'm picking up my paycheck tomorrow, but I don't think I'll have much left over for food." He coughed a little, embarrassed that he had to ask (but hey, he needed the food; he wasn't about to just starve to death). "So I was wondering if you and Roxas could lend me some money or toss some leftovers my way or something…"
"Of course," she said in that motherly way of hers Sora had always liked. Despite having a decent relationship with his own mother, Naminé had been one to take care of him whenever he needed something or someone to listen to him after his numerous break-ups ever since he moved out to Traverse Town. He felt closer to her than his own mother after only two years hearing her worry and fuss over him, which was more than his actual mother did, who only called once a year on his birthday to congratulate him on still living. "I can bring over some leftovers tomorrow and a couple of other things if you'd like?"
"Yeah, thanks a lot," Sora said gratefully before remembering what else he had wanted to ask the twins. "Hey, what are you and Roxas doing tomorrow and the day after for New Years?"
Naminé's eyes lit up.
"You got those days off?" she asked. Sora nodded happily. "I did too! Roxas might have to work on New Years day, but he doesn't have work tomorrow."
"We should all get out and do something then!" the brunette boy exclaimed, excited to be able to get out and have some fun.
"Demyx is playing at a club downtown. Roxas and I were planning to go visit him with Leon, and some others," Naminé told him.
"Sounds good. Just tell me when you guys want to go, and I'll be ready."
"Demyx said he won't be playing until about ten or eleven, so we'll probably go about an hour before then."
"So how about before then?" Sora asked, not wanting to have to spend the entire day alone.
"We'll hang out! And do a little catching up with the others since it's been a while since we've all gotten together at the same time," Naminé replied excitedly. The brunette grinned. At last he could go out and have some fun with all of his friends! It had been much too long since he had been able to do that. He wouldn't have much money for drinks, but he could probably mooch off of Leon or something if he really wanted to. As grouchy as Leon was for the most part, Sora knew that he had a soft spot for his friends and when prodded right, he could be made to do anything as long as it didn't involve public displays of affection coming from his end.
Naminé returned his grin with her trade mark shy smile and the pair high fived, both looking forward to the next day of drinking, partying, and friends.
It was the next morning when a loud knocking was heard from the door of Sora's apartment. Not quite ready to get up as it was only ten in the morning, and Sora usually liked to sleep in on the rare occasion that he did not end up with a morning shift, the owner of the apartment simply rolled over with a grunt in acknowledgment to whoever decided ten in the morning was a reasonable hour to wake him at. As if sensing Sora's utter lack of respect for guests at this time in the morning, there was another loud knock that even sounded annoyed, followed closely by an equally irritated voice, "Sora, you better get up and open this door or I'll open it for you."
It wasn't yelled, but the threat was clear. Recognizing the voice even through his sleep addled mind, Sora knew not to mess with his waker and that they would most definitely break down the door if it weren't opened soon. Sora certainly had enough experience to know it would happen too, and he wasn't about to add another door to his list of many things to pay for. So he jumped from his bed, stumbling as the sheets of his bed caught around his legs, and quickly made his way to his door without bothering to make himself presentable. It wouldn't have made much of a difference considering his hair was always a mess and the person at the door had seen him in worse states of dress before. He just needed to get to the door before it got knocked in.
And luckily he made it in time, slamming the door open with a tired, sheepish smile at the taller, older brunette male standing in his doorway, plastic bags in hand. "Hey Leon. Long time no see!"
"Well you're as predictable as usual," the man commented before letting himself into Sora's apartment. The shorter male stepped aside and then closed the door, making sure to close the locks as well.
"You're the one that threatened to knock my door in. It's not my fault I didn't get a chance to get ready or anything," Sora replied. "I didn't even know you were coming over!"
"Naminé sent me over with some groceries. She said she wanted you to have breakfast and then go over to their place when you were ready," Leon told his friend in a rather indifferent tone. He placed the plastic bags on the small table in the small, designated kitchen area and began taking things out to put away. Sora raised an eyebrow though as he moved to the table to help.
"And why'd she send you?"
Leon shrugged. "Somebody asked her to take the morning shift at the book shop and I slept over last night. I figured it was the least I could do for letting me spend the night."
"And you wanted to see my adorable face, right?" Sora asked, batting his eyes at the other with an innocent smile on his lips. Leon rolled his eyes and ruffled Sora's hair as he passed to put the last of the food away.
"Sure chibi. Whatever you say."
Sora stuck his tongue out at the sarcastic tone and Leon bopped him lightly on the head. "You want me to make you something?" Leon asked. Sora thought it over.
It had been a while since Leon cooked him anything. And Leon was a fantastic cook. So…
"Yes please!"
The taller man just nodded and began taking out the ingredients for an omelet. It was nice, the fact the Leon was cooking for him. Not just for the fact that he didn't have to make something himself (which usually didn't come out very well), but for the fact that nobody had cooked him something in a long time. It really had been a long time since he'd seen Leon. The older man had been away in another city for the longest time, having been transferred there when he got promoted. Even though he had still heard from Leon occasionally, he would still feel a little bit lonely when he realized that he couldn't just hop on over to Leon's apartment to bug him if he wanted. He could do it over the phone, but it just wasn't the same. He had really missed Leon.
"How was San Francisco?" Sora asked at last, since he hadn't gotten a chance to ask about it since he had come back.
"It was nice for the most part. The higher ups were asses, but I learned a lot when I was there," Leon replied absently.
"So why'd you come back?"
Leon swiveled his head to look at Sora with a raised eyebrow. "I couldn't just leave you to burn down your apartment, could I?"
The younger pouted. "Twice! It only happened twice and I swear it wasn't my fault!"
And like with Naminé, Leon didn't believe it for a second. He knew just how Sora was in a kitchen, which was why he cooked for the younger boy so often before he left. It made him wonder how Sora had managed to keep from burning down the apartment when he was away in San Francisco. With a noncommittal shrug, he just finished the omelet and served it to the waiting brunette on one of the chipped plates that had seen so much ware in this apartment. Sora thanked the other for the food and dug in like he hadn't eaten in days. And considering how barren his refrigerator and cupboards had been, it wouldn't have been too surprising if Sora were to tell him that he hadn't been eating much lately. He did look thinner than before.
"You need to eat more. You're getting too skinny."
Sora paused in scarfing down his food. He looked down at himself and then back up at Leon with a pout. "I would if Sephiroth would stop taking expenses for the plates I break out of my paycheck."
"And the way to fix that is to stop breaking plates," Leon countered, folding his arms across his chest. Sora just pouted some more and finished up his omelet quickly.
"I can't help it if I get distracted sometimes."
Messy brown hair was ruffled.
"And the way to fix that is to learn to concentrate on what you're doing more."
Sora stuck his tongue out at the older man again, to which Leon merely smirked as he was prone to do when teasing the younger one. It was familiar and both had missed it.
"I'm really glad you're back, ya know?" Sora said, grinning now. Leon nodded and grunted, which Sora took as his being glad to be back as well. So he tackle hugged the older man because he knew how Leon was with public displays of affection or saying how he really felt.
"Brat," was Leon's response, but it wasn't hostile or anything. Sora just laughed.
"Let's go!"
…
"I'm not carrying you there, brat," Leon said as he realized that Sora wasn't going to be getting off any time soon.
"Boo! You're no fun!" Sora said as he was pulled from the other's back. Leon just rolled his eyes and started walking toward the door. Sora followed suit, grabbing his shoes and jacket on the way.
Roxas had always taken night shifts. Not that they were his preference, but Cid seemed to think he was good at it and the customers liked too. He always hated himself afterward because he was so dead tired, but lately they didn't seem quite as bad. And he knew it had something to do with a certain red head with tear drop tattoos beneath his eyes and a certain penchant for staring at fire.
Roxas worked at a bar, which a middle aged, brute of a man named Cid owned. It was open at all hours of the day and did fairly well for a regular bar in New York City. Occasionally there were bands that played and local performers that did shows which brought in more customers and therefore more profit. Now Roxas worked the midnight shifts regularly and tended the bar as was his job, so he met a good number of people this way, some nice, others (mostly) annoying as hell. But as for this red head, Roxas wasn't quite sure where to put him.
Every time he came in he was with a blonde woman. She was decent: pretty face, short hair slicked back in a way that suited her, curves in the right places. The only thing Roxas hadn't liked about her was the way she talked down to everyone else and insulted others around her without a care. The red head didn't seem to mind and tended to her just as well as Roxas tended the bar, and though he wouldn't join to insult others, he would berate her in a joking manner close to his girlfriend's but comparatively much kinder. It was strange, and they didn't seem to fit together to Roxas, but he had seen stranger things in his time working at the bar.
Whenever the blonde would storm off or just leave, as if she had forgotten that the red head had accompanied her to the bar, he would talk to Roxas, already beginning the journey to a drunken stupor. He would apologize for her patronizing behavior and say she used to be such a sweet girl in a tone that never truly convinced Roxas that such a fact could be true. And then he would tease Roxas or ask him questions as if he wanted to get to know the bartender passing him drinks. If he thought he could buddy up with the bartender for free drinks, the guy had another thing coming. But that didn't stop Roxas from indulging the drunk man with information he would probably forget in the morning. Like the fact that Roxas hated sweets but loved waffles for breakfast when he had time for them. Or that Roxas watched Spanish soap operas occasionally when his sister wasn't home. Things he probably would never have told anyone else.
It was probably because Roxas didn't even know the man's name, and he never saw the man outside of the bar. Only when he came with the blonde and then drank himself away when she left.
Recently he had come nearly every night with her.
Tonight he hadn't come.
It wasn't that Roxas had noticed right away. He hadn't even thought about it until he was back home at seven in the morning, ready to sleep and gather some energy for the celebration that he wouldn't have to work through for once. It was a fleeting thought that a regular hadn't come in and talked to him or teased him or joked with him about some customer on the other side of the bar.
It didn't really bother him.
It was just a thought he had before he fell asleep.
When Sora and Leon arrived at the twins' apartment, they were quickly ushered back out by Naminé who had left a note for the exhausted and sleeping Roxas saying that they would be visiting with Demyx to meet his new drummer. Demyx had been bragging about the newest addition to the band ever since he joined, and he had been pestering them to meet the infamous drummer at some point. Naminé figured they might as well seeing as they would be watching the band's performance later today anyway. That and she didn't want Sora anywhere near the house, because he was certainly known for being loud and potentially breaking things at inopportune moments. And so, this was how they ended up at Tifa's apartment, above her delivery service which was closed for the holidays.
"Nami! You came!" Demyx exclaimed when they walked into the room. He rushed over and hugged the blonde girl, twirling her around. Naminé giggled quietly and waited patiently for him to set her down. "Nice to see everyone else too! Good to see you back in town Leon."
"How long are you going to be around this time?" Tifa asked from the side while she tuned her bass, strumming it every once in a while. Zexion, the keyboardist, sat behind his instrument absorbed in a book, though he did glance up at their arrival and give an acknowledging nod of his head. The one none of them recognized was a blonde, spiky haired man that twirled a drum stick in his hand as he evaluated the people that had just crowded into the apartment with the band.
Leon examined the new person as he answered Tifa, "Long enough."
"Needed to check up on Sora, right?" Demyx asked, ignoring Sora's indignant protest to needing someone look after him.
"Hn," Leon replied with a shrug. "Someone has to."
"Thanks for talking about me like I'm not even here, guys," Sora pouted. Then he yelped as Demyx grabbed Sora around the neck and gave him a noogie.
"We only do it because we care!"
Tifa laughed in the background. Zexion never looked up, used to the usual antics of the band leader's and his friends, while Cloud watched on with a slight expression of interest. While Sora struggled to break free of his friend's grip, Leon decided to ask what he knew Naminé and Sora also wanted to know.
"Who's the new guy?"
Demyx perked up and dropped Sora, who was off balance anyway and fell to the floor with an 'oof!'. Skipping over to his newest addition, the sitar player put his hands on the blonde man's shoulders with a grin. "This is Cloud. He's a friend of Tifa's and is staying here for the time being while being out newest drummer! Cloud, these are friends and fans Sora, Leon, and Naminé."
Each person nodded or waved when their name was called, allowing Cloud to see who was who.
"So where's Roxas?" Tifa asked, finished tuning now.
"He had the night shift at the bar, so he's sleeping right now. He'll be there tonight though and he won't be working either," Naminé told her with her quiet smile. The dark haired woman smiled back.
"That's good. He should try to get more rest though. Has he been sleeping well?"
"As well as he ever does," Naminé replied. Tifa hummed and nodded her head. It was obvious to everyone that knew Tifa that she would be having a talk with Roxas that night about his sleeping habits. Tifa was a mixture of a doting big sister and a concerned mother. She constantly worried over her friends and liked to make sure everyone was doing alright.
"Well," Demyx said, now back with his sitar strapped on, "would you all like a preview performance?"
All three took their seats, Leon on a couch with Sora laying on his lap and Naminé sitting comfortably in a worn out arm chair, while the band discussed what to practice for the show that night. They didn't want to play through everything, but everything they did sounded great to the three listeners. Cloud did his part and held his own very well for having just been brought into the band and learned new songs. He seemed to take his work with the band seriously, but he looked as though he were enjoying it as well. Even though Sora hadn't heard the blonde say much all rehearsal, he seemed like a gentle soul or a calm one at least. He liked the guy from what he had seen and heard since meeting him and he was glad Demyx had been able to find a drummer as good as Cloud.
He knew the concert at the bar would be a hit, and he certainly hoped that Demyx's band got signed one day. They deserved it.
After practice, Tifa treated everyone to lunch at a café the group minus Cloud were familiar with. It was small and run by three girls, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine plus their two employees, Wakka and Tidus. The exterior was modest. A small green striped canopy over the door and a large square window to show off the desserts and treats the girls made on a daily basis. The interior held small wooden tables and chairs for the customers, a bar to order the food at, and photos of exotic places, some with the owners in them and some not. The trio had traveled a lot together before settling down in New York City to stay.
"Hello everyone," the brunette woman, Yuna, said as they entered.
"What can we do for ya?" a blonde, Rikku, asked as she passed, arms full of dirty plates. Through a door to the kitchen was the third owner, Paine, a short haired woman with red eyes and quiet disposition, could be seen making a dish for a customer. The group said their hellos to the women and took up two of the tables near the back of the café. Rikku came soon after asking for drink orders and to whisk away more empty plates left by recent customers. Once the orders were squared away, conversation picked up again.
"So Cloud, tell us a little about yourself," Sora said, curious about the newest member to their group. There weren't many the brunette didn't get along with, and he hoped Cloud wouldn't be one of them. The blonde man, meanwhile, shifted in his chair looking a little stiff with so much attention on him.
"I'm a friend of Tifa's," he started, his voice quiet and deep but strong as well.
"We've known each other since high school and he used to work at my shop when it first opened," Tifa chipped in, knowing her friend didn't like to talk much. "Then he moved away for a while before coming back to live with me again."
"Oh? Where did you go?" Naminé asked.
"Not far. I thought it was time to get my own place, but certain…circumstances have led me back to staying with Tifa for the moment," Cloud replied. He seemed uncomfortable, and though more than a few were interested to know what kind of circumstances they could have been, everyone respected his privacy to keep things to himself. At least for now.
"Well, then how did you become a drummer?" Demyx asked, moving the conversation on to another topic.
"I was actually in another band in high school with Tifa."
Demyx's jaw dropped as he looked at his bassist and then snapped shut into a pout. "No fair Tifa! You never told me you were in another band!"
The dark haired woman rolled her eyes and lightly bopped the sitar player on his head. "It was a long time ago and the band never went anywhere. We weren't all that good either."
"But you could have at least told me!" Demyx whined. And then another hand smacked him on the back of the head, which belonged to the mostly silent Zexion whose nose was still buried in a book, small reading glasses perched on his nose.
"Don't whine. If it were important, she would have told you," the silver haired man said, eyes peeking up over the edge of the open book. Demyx held a small staring contest with the man while the rest continued on and ignored them.
"Well even if your band wasn't very good back then, you were pretty awesome from what I heard," Sora said with a grin.
Cloud answered with a small smile and a "Thanks." And then Rikku came back with drinks and a note pad to write down their orders. She was also officially introduced to Cloud as Demyx's new drummer and the newest addition to their group. She gave him a warm welcome and promised a little percent off for the group if the band would advertise the café at their performance that night. Demyx replied that they always did, and Rikku walked back to the kitchen with their orders.
"So Sora, it's been a while. You've been busy lately, haven't you?" Tifa asked with a smile.
"Yeah, I've been putting in a lot of hours so I could buy gifts for Christmas and pay for rent. I got lucky though and now I have today and tomorrow completely free," the brunette replied. Tifa nodded.
"Well that's good. At least you can go out and have some fun this year."
"So then is Kairi gonna come tonight too?" Demyx asked innocently, unaware of just how that question made Sora freeze on the spot.
"Um, well…"
"She broke up with him, Dem," Naminé intervened. The table went silent.
Demyx's expression immediately became apologetic. He knew Sora's bad luck with romance, but he and Kairi had been together for nearly two years and he'd thought for sure that the spiky haired kid had found some stability in a relationship. And since Sora had been so busy, possibly a side effect of the break up, Demyx hadn't seen him in a while. In fact the only ones that had really known of the break up were Naminé and Roxas, who had been there for him when Kairi had broken it off.
"Oh, Sora," Tifa said, wanting to hug the poor boy. He waved her back down, knowing what she was going to do when she began to stand up, and gave his best smile to everyone.
"I'm fine, really. It's not that big a deal," he said. And even though it did still hurt, because he had really thought things were working between Kairi and him, he didn't want everyone to make a fuss. His luck with love sucked anyway. He supposed he should have seen it coming. A big hand ruffled his hair and Sora looked up at Leon, sitting next to him.
"Even though I know you're not okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. Just don't be an emotional drunk tonight, okay?"
And even though that made Sora want to cry that Leon knew him well enough not to push things and still show his concern, he smiled and nodded.
The food came. The conversation moved on to other things as everyone caught up with everyone else and Tifa shared funny stories about Cloud with everyone, who wanted to crawl under the table by the end but wouldn't because he wouldn't be a man if he did. The rest of lunch was filled with laughs and more getting-to-know-you questions for Cloud. Though he wouldn't answer some of them with straight forward answers, he still seemed like an okay guy. Plus he could play a mean drum, and that was a good thing for the band. Plus, a little mystery was always good.
By the end of lunch, Naminé, Sora, and Leon split up with the band to go check up on Roxas. Naminé wanted her twin to rest, but she didn't want him to sleep all day either. She figured if he wasn't up by now, then it was just about time he did. So they said their goodbyes to the band members and went to go check up on Roxas. It wouldn't be too much longer then until the festivities around the city began.
On his way out of the café, Sora bumped into a man on his way in.
"Sorry!" he said quickly, glancing at the person he had hit by accident. He caught a flash of white teeth grinning and silver hair underneath a dark gray knit hat before he completely passed the man, only faintly hearing the reply of, "It's fine," on his way out.
The hair color was enough to make the second long encounter stick in his mind, but not for very long. Naminé and Leon were waiting for him after all. And there was a sleepy Roxas to wake up and jump as well.
Author's Note: And there it is. Much lighter than the last one, right? But there are undertones, so get ready for drama later on. Let me know what you think of my baby. Review, review, review! :)