victory is mine at last!
okay, so no, i didn't abandon this story, obviously. i just had writer's block, and was debating between two endings.
I think i know how i'm going to end this now.
so it's only going to be around one or two more chapters...yes.
ahem. i hope you like this chapter. there's some cleon. yes.
and uhm, yes. enjoy.
ALSO! this chapter is dedicated to my lovely friend. this chapter should have been updated on her birthday but i got caught up and couldn't finish it.
So this is for you, my dear. happy belated birthday!

By Chance

Sora stood hesitantly outside of Riku's house. His fingers curled restlessly into his palm, digging at the soft skin. He gulped and kept his blue gaze locked with the door. He hadn't spoken with Riku since yesterday, since that shower incident. The brunet gulped for a second time and ran his tongue along his lips. Memories flooded his mind, ephemeral but powerful. His eyes fluttered shut accidentally as he lowered his fist. Perhaps he should just come back later when he knew for certain that his boyfriend would be up. Or would it just be better to knock? Knocking now would allow him to spend the entire day with Riku—and keep Sephiroth's proposition regarding the 'gang' issue off his mind. Seriously, why did he want him, a simple boy, to help in a criminal case? It seemed a bit callous.

Before Sora even had time to knock, the door opened. Amused aquamarine eyes met his startled blue ones that opened instantaneously. Sora eyed his boyfriend for a moment. "How did you know I was here?..."

"Heard you walking to my door, then the very gentle first knock, and then heard you breathing," Riku hummed, listing off the details precisely, one by one. His eyebrows waggled and he leaned casually against the door-frame, wearing nothing but grey boxers.

Sora's eyes instantly dropped and swam over his boyfriend's perfectly chiseled body. "Uh…"

"Get in here before my balls freeze," Riku murmured amusedly. He stepped aside and held the door open for Sora, green eyes never leaving the young boy's body.

Sora gladly entered, hugging his arms tightly to his body. He was wearing his everyday outfit—t-shirt and baggy pants—nothing too extravagant. Then again, Riku's boxer-clad body made the brunet feel a bit overdressed for the occasion. But what was the occasion, exactly? Breakfast, perhaps? Regardless, the teen trotted over to Riku's couch and sat down beside the silveret. Silence swarmed between the pair for a few minutes that were tracked by the clock on the opposing wall.

"So, you're over here early," Riku noted. "Any particular reason?"

Sora licked his lips. "Is it so bad that I want to see my boyfriend?" he huffed, bottom lip sticking out.

Riku chuckled and laced his arms behind his head. He reclined some and propped his feet up on the coffee table. Silver hair draped diaphanously over his shoulders, glimmering effulgently in the morning light. "It's not a bad thing," he began and traced his sinewy fingers through his silver tresses, "it's a nice sentiment, actually."

"Then why'd you ask?" Sora murmured and cocked a brow.

"I don't know. You just don't seem like the type, no offense. You seem like the independent and headstrong boyfriend, not the kind that is openly affectionate and—I can't describe it, I apologize," he mumbled and rubbed the base of his neck.

Sora's brow arched further. "So basically, you didn't expect me to take things this seriously?"

Riku blanched. "Hell no, not at all. I just meant that I thought you'd be the type to—Okay, I'm just going to shut up. I'm sorry. It all came out wrong. I just wasn't expecting you to come here. It surprised me. I'm happy. Really, I am. Usually I am the one that has to go out of their way to keep things together…it's a nice change."

Sora blinked. "…Oh."

"Yeah…" Riku trailed off and coughed awkwardly. "I hate how I always sound rude," he groaned.

"You just need to word things better," Sora mused and casually leaned against Riku's side, head propping up on the elder's shoulder when his arms fell down. "You're comfy…"

Riku smirked and wrapped an arm possessively around the brunet. "Ah, why thank you, Sora," he hummed and kissed the top of his boyfriend's head. He felt heat radiate off the teen's cheeks and he simply chuckled deeply in his throat, enamored by Sora.

"There…is something I wanted to talk to you about, though," Sora confessed and snuggled closer out of habit.

Riku cocked his head to the right. "What's that?"

"…Yesterday," Sora murmured. He hoped that Riku would get the idea.

Riku paused to remember. "Ah…you mean the hand job?"

Sora scrunched his nose up. "I was trying to be polite, but you just have to be vulgar and blunt," he pouted jokingly but nodded regardless. "I'm sorry I…over-reacted, Riku. It meant a lot to me, it really did. I hope I didn't give you the impression that I don't trust you or anything. I'm just really…self conscious."

Riku nodded understandingly. "Sora, you're beautiful," he reasoned and kissed Sora's brown hair again.

"That's not beautiful," he muttered embarrassedly.

"If you would let me see it, I bet I'd disagree," Riku mused in a sing-song voice, eyebrows dancing about on his broad forehead.

Sora blushed hotly. "Pervert," he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You will, eventually, I guess. Just don't push it, okay?" Nod. "And another thing! I feel bad that you only pleasured me! I mean, weren't you uh…oh what's that word? Needy, too?" he whispered, voice becoming quieter by the moment.

"I was," Riku divulged and shrugged. He kept Sora close, though. "It didn't matter, though. I've experienced my share of orgasms. This was your first induced by someone else. I wanted to focus on you. So don't feel bad, okay?" A smirk.

Sora rolled his eyes again and hid his face against Riku's side. "Right…"

"God, you're so cute," Riku stated and held Sora closer to his side, burying his nose into the youth's hair.

"…Not really," Sora muttered in defiance. He knew that Riku would object so he didn't really state his retort all that loudly.

"I'm really glad you came over," Riku said and ran his pale hand daintily down Sora's arms. "I like waking up to find you at my door. Waking up beside you would be far better, but I really doubt that Cloud would allow that." He chuckled after that and gulped. He knew that Cloud would murder him if he convinced Sora to move out.

"Aha…he'd maim you if you took me away from him," Sora murmured and smiled up at the silveret. "And then he'd bury you under our apartment, in that old basement that smells like catfood…yeah, it sucks down there. I used to have to go down there for storage things and—"

"…You're rambling," Riku laughed and kissed Sora's forehead with an eye roll.

Sora shrugged. "So? I do that often."

"I know," Riku said and smiled, watching Sora attempt to stare at the spot on his head that Riku had kissed; so damn cute.

Sora sighed and closed his eyes, snuggling close. "Jerkface…"

Riku laughed some more. A thought occurred to him. He gulped restlessly. "Hey, Sora?..."

"Hrm?..." Sora yawned, trailing off some. "What's up?"

"Would you ever hate me?"

Sora's eyes fluttered open and he stared at the parallel wall. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion and slight trepidation. "What'd you do, Riku?" He knew full well that Riku wouldn't have asked that if he was innocent. The silveret had to have done something…and that terrified Sora more than anything. And they were getting along so damn well, too…

Riku inhaled deeply. "Stay here, okay?..." He eased off the couch.

Sora felt his stomach do flip-flops as he watched his boyfriend leave the room. The innards of his body churned and knotted and his limbs felt like falling off. His throat tightened and he gripped the cushions, attempting to keep a calm demeanor. It wasn't working. "What could he have done already?..."

When Riku returned, with his hands behind his back, Sora just stared at him, scandalized.

Riku sat down, hands still behind his back. "Listen Sora, I'm sorry I'm just…telling you this now. I know I'm a selfish jerk but I just had to get this off my chest. I don't want you to figure it out and yeah, and then hate me and—"

"I swear to god, Riku, if this is about Cloud again I'm going to—" Sora began, voice weak and threatening to break.

Riku's eyes widened. He dropped whatever was behind his back and instantly allowed his hands to latch onto the brunet's shoulders. "God Sora, no. This has nothing to do about Cloud. This has nothing to do about cheating or my past relationships or anything. Nothing at all, I promise you…" He watched as relief flooded into the brunet's eyes. "Sora…"

"I'm sorry," Sora murmured. "I shouldn't have accused you of that. God, I'm a bad boyfriend."

"No, it's fine," Riku inserted quickly and gave the brunet a quick kiss to the cheek when his ramblings became too superfluous.

"If it's not about another guy, then what is it?...You don't have a nasty disease, right?" Sora was becoming more mystified by the moment.

"No," Riku laughed some and shook his head. His hands slid from Sora's shoulders and went back behind his back. "Before you say anything, let me tell the entire story, okay? Promise?"

Sora nodded.

Riku inhaled deeply and brought the maroon colored notebook out into his lap. He watched as Sora's eyes tripled in size. His mouth hung open, about to exclaim, but it shut rapidly. He seemed to remember his promise at once. Sora looked up, searching Riku's eyes for answers. He looked terrified, like a deer caught in the headlights. He gulped and waited. Just waited.

"The day you came over, I was on the subway with Naminé. You did say that's how you got my…journal, right?" Nod. "Well, I guess we by accident got our notebooks mixed up. I was going to give it to you the first night you came here, but we weren't really on good terms. So I just kept it and read it. I learned so much about you from it. About your life, and about who you really were. I know you were startled when we became friends so rapidly…well, accredit that to the diary. It was like an insight into you. I felt like after every word I read, I knew you better. I just had to get to know you better for real. I kept telling myself I'd give you the journal back, but then feared that if I gave it back to you, you'd be upset with me…"

"So you had it all along," Sora murmured.

"Yeah…that's how I knew where you were. At Zexion's. I hadn't read that entry until that day. If I had…Sora, I could have saved us both from that." He sighed and shrugged. "I'm sorry I didn't give it back to you the day you gave me my back…I guess I have my own fears, huh?"

Sora nodded some. "Done?"

"Yup, I think so," Riku concluded and rubbed the nape of his neck. "Now, you have the right to hate me. I know I'm not the model citizen, friend, boyfriend, lover, even, but I do care about you."

Sora rolled his eyes and gingerly snatched his diary back. "Well, you may have lied to me about my diary, but you still gave it back to me," the brunet cooed and leaned closer to Riku, nose scrunching up. "I think you deserve to be forgiven."

Riku chuckled deeply, relief pouring through his laughter. "May I have a kiss as well?"

"And you're being so polite, too!" Sora laughed, blushing hotly at the suggestion. "Are you trying to butter me up for something, Ri-ku?"

Riku rolled his eyes and promptly took the diary from his boyfriend. He carefully set it on the coffee table. "If I were trying to butter you up, I would have done something completely extravagant. And if I was buttering you up for anything, it'd be for a hot night over here."

"Riku!" Sora squeaked and hid his face in his boyfriend's shoulder.

"So-ra!" Riku cooed and wrapped his arms tightly around Sora.

"Stop being so romantic!" Sora warned and continued burying his face into Riku's shoulder. "It's making me blush and stuff."

"Still so innocent," Riku laughed and kissed the top of Sora's hair. The brown spikes tickled his nose and he laughed some more. "You still blush when we kiss?"

"A bit," Sora admitted as he hunched his shoulders. "I told you, this is my first true relationship and I like you a lot and uh…your smile makes me nervous and I can't help but blush and…er…" Sora trailed off, voice being muffled by Riku's skin.

"That's fine," Riku decided and nudged his nose against Sora's hair playfully. "I like you the way you are."

Sora sighed pleasantly and peeked up to stare at his boyfriend. His cheeks stained a dark red and he shyly placed his hand on the older's shoulders. A smile leaked onto his lips as he stared into endless pools of aquamarine. The older's scent captivated him, made his head spin, and his body feel weak. Sapphire hues drooped slightly as he just sat there, for the most part in Riku's lap. His breath hitched out of nowhere. Riku arched a brow at the breathing change. Sora blushed harder and remained frozen, unable to initiate a kiss. He averted his gaze but kept his face close to the silveret's. And Riku wasn't going to start a kiss this time—he wanted Sora to.

Sora peeked back at the silver-haired male and smiled nervously again. With a deep breath, his eyes slid shut and he pressed closer. Arms slackened as he kissed his boyfriend. His lithe body surged with pleasure. A smile appeared on Sora's lips at his newfound courage and pleasure.

Riku returned the kiss pleasantly as his hands laced together at the small of Sora's back. "You're beautiful," he whispered airily into the exchange. His sharp eyes remained closed and glazed over behind pale eyelids.

Sora didn't answer. All the brunet did was mesh their lips together again. He loved kissing Riku. He loved it so much. His toes curled and he relaxed into Riku's lap.

"I want you to stay the night," Riku whispered into the kiss, hands exploring Sora's back above his shirt.

Sora blushed. "I'll…talk to Cloud," he murmured into the kiss, leaning further into the kiss. "Okay?..."

"Okay," Riku cooed and continued kissing Sora, not about to stop anytime soon. And he didn't. He didn't let Sora go for another entire hour.

He was falling hard for his first love's brother, and he didn't give a fuck anymore.

-xxxxxxx-

"I was talking to Sora the other night," Leon began. His burly body shifted away from the garden railing in Central Park. Stoic eyes wandered over to his boyfriend who seemed quite preoccupied with a few figures in the distance. They were people neither of the males knew, but that didn't stop Cloud from staring off into space, eying the pair. When Leon received no answer to his statement, the brunet tapped the blond on his shoulder.

Cloud broke from his stupor and looked to Leon. "Hm?"

"You have that look again," Leon reasoned and folded his arms to his chest. His body leaned back against the grey rail, trying to get comfortable.

"What look?" Cloud quipped. He winced when he realized he had sounded a bit too defensive. "What look?" he posed again, far less harsh.

"Something's on your mind," Leon stated simply and watched Cloud for any change in demeanor. "Ever since Riku and Sora broke up the first time, you've been acting strangely. I talked to Sora about what happened…" He fell quiet.

Cloud bit his lip. "We were broken up," he stated slowly.

"I'm aware of that," Leon answered and looked up at the sky. "I just don't see why you can't leave that poor boy alone. Your relationship ended with him years ago—you told me that you never loved him. Why can't you let him be happy?"

"I wasn't aware that he was with my brother," Cloud stated slowly. His voice was indifferent, as if trying to conceal either uneasiness or jealously. Either or would be bad in such a situation.

"What if he wasn't with Sora?" Leon finally asked. "What if, hypothetically, Riku was single and so were you? Would you have dated him? Or would you have led him on?"

"Why do you want to know so badly? What happened between Riku and I is over," Cloud murmured and shrugged his shoulders. His blue gaze avoided Leon's, refusing to meet the disappointment in his boyfriend's eyes. "We never dated. We never loved each other. It wouldn't have worked. I only turned to him because he had always been there. Whenever I broke up with someone, he was always there to talk to and—"

"And lead on," Leon finished.

Cloud winced and instinctively turned on his heel to stare at his cool boyfriend. "I wouldn't have lead Riku on, damnit, Leon! I'm done with him! I just… I don't know where my head was. I missed you, okay? I have a hard time admitting how I feel and I just…augh. Forget it." He turned harshly and shook his head, having said too much—having reacted too much.

"Cloud…" Leon chewed on his bottom lip and placed a brawny hand onto the blond's shoulder. "I understand. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

Cloud sighed. "Do you think I'm weak?"

"Why would I?"

"For overreacting just then? For yelling at you," Cloud muttered voice as constant as ever. He spared a stray glance over his shoulder at his towering boyfriend. "Are you upset with me?"

"No," Leon answered curtly. Slowly, his strong arms curled around Cloud's waist. "Listen to me. I don't care about your past. I just care about the present. The now. I want whatever you felt with Riku to just vanish. He's your best friend, keep him as such. Let your brother handle the relationship on his own. Promise me you won't interfere."

Cloud sucked in a deep breath and turned around in Leon's arms. A small blush was on his face. "We shouldn't be doing this here, Leon. You know…" he began.

"I don't honestly care," Leon enlightened and promptly tightened his hold around Cloud. "I'm not like your ex's, Cloud. I'm not like them. I don't care about the public eye. I may not always look like it, sound like it, or act like it, but I care deeply about you. More than anything."

Cloud gulped, his heart pounding loudly from the confession. "…God, I love how you can such things with such a relaxed face…"

Leon cracked a smile. "Jealous?"

Cloud rolled his eyes and slowly eased into his boyfriend's public embrace. "Eh, perhaps," he reasoned and sighed pleasantly. "I'm sorry. I promise I won't bother them. I'll let Sora handle his relationship by himself."

Leon nodded. "Good."

"Just, if Sora gets hurt, I'm going to have Riku's head on a silver platter," he muttered darkly.

"I don't doubt it," Leon chuckled and kept Cloud tightly against him, despite the wandering, judgmental gazes. He didn't care. He never did—and he hoped Cloud wouldn't in the future either.

-xxxxxxx-

Sora relaxed into the booth of the jazz café. Riku was off working at the counter, Cloud was with Leon for the day, and Roxas and Axel were supposedly going to have dinner with him. Sora had asked his older brother earlier if he could spend the night at Riku's. At first, Cloud had vehemently denied the request, but upon further persistence, he caved in. Unknown to Sora, but Leon had helped with that decision—perhaps not directly, but certainly indirectly. And now Sora sat at the café, ready to consume dinner with a few newly acquired friends. After dinner he would head off to Riku's for the night. They'd watch some movies, laugh…kiss…touch… his cheeks burned and he hid behind his diary, despite how stupid it looked.

"Hey, Sora," Roxas greeted as he slid into the large booth across from the brunet, followed by the familiar red head.

Sora smiled in greeting and closed his diary. He quickly stashed it, along with the pen he had been writing with, into his backpack. "Hey guys, how are you doing?"

"Quite well," Roxas answered and nodded minimally. "We just got back from a play."

"A play?" Sora questioned as he tried to stifle a laugh. Roxas and Axel? Going to see a play? For some reason that situation seemed comical.

"What? It was good," Axel interjected and stared cat-like at the youthful brunet. "It wasn't a cheesy romance, if that's what you're thinking, pipsqueak."

Sora scrunched his nose up. "Pipsqueak?" he questioned skeptically.

"Axel, don't be rude to Riku's boyfriend," Roxas reminded and jokingly prodded his boyfriend in the side. His blue eyes shimmered deviously. Sora wasn't sure whether or not he should understand their odd relationship or not. He decided upon the latter and smiled politely at them despite it all.

"What's with the backpack?" Axel inquired.

"Oh." Sora looked to his right at his green bag. "I'm going over Riku's for the night. I needed my things."

Axel smirked knowingly. "Ah. Then maybe I should give him one of these. I doubt he has any lying around his place," the redhead began. He pulled out a square, thin, small package to signify the 'one of these'. Roxas blanched and he quickly began scrambling around in the booth to steal the object back.

It took Sora a moment to recognize what it was. "W-why do you carry those with you?" His blush turned dark, dark, dark.

"Well, Roxas here is quite the—" Axel began with a smirk as he tossed Sora the packaged condom just in time to receive an annoyed blond in his lap. "See what I mean?"

Sora laughed awkwardly and shyly looked down at the packet. He gulped and ran his thumb over it, body heating shakily. "Uhm…t-t-hanks? But I d-d-on't think we'll n-need it…"

"Oh, going raw, huh?" Axel mused as Roxas shifted off him and went back to his proper seat at the booth.

"Axel…" Roxas warned, eying the redhead darkly. "Stop being perverted."

"I just wanted to know," Axel sang and turned his gaze back to the blushing brunet. "If it's your first time, I advise that. It'll make you feel safer and all that jazz. Plus, it'll be less of a mess and less uncomfortable. You know, having Riku climax in y—"

"Stop!" Roxas stated harshly and whacked Axel upside the head with a grimace.

"What are you guys talking about?"

The table went silent as Riku seated himself beside Sora.

Sora squeaked and hid the packet in his pocket, heart racing. No, no, no please don't notice my pocket. No, no, no. The brunet looked shyly down at his menu and opened it for the first time that night. Now would be a wonderful time to find some food! For dinner! Because that's what you do at dinner! Not pass around condoms and sex advice!

"Nothing," Axel hummed innocently and watched as Roxas stared at him with disbelief.

"It had to be something," Riku chuckled as he wrapped an arm possessively around the brunet. "Considering my Sora is blushing like a maniac and shoved something in his pocket."

"Riku, I wouldn't…" Roxas began, uncertain as to how the silveret and brunet would react.

Too late. Riku had sneaked a hand slyly into Sora's pocket and snatched the packet out. He brought it to his lap, to Sora's horrification. The brunet squeaked loudly, began flailing, and attempted to steal the condom back.

"No, no, no! Don't look at it!" Sora squeaked and tried to get the packet back before Riku realized what it was.

Also too late. Riku arched a brow as his usually pale and smirky cheeks turned scarlet. He hesitantly raised the square up into the air with his thumb and index finger. "Uhm…" the silveret began. He was speechless for the first time in quite awhile. "Sora?..."

"They gave it to me!" Sora explained and ducked his head down. He refused to let his boyfriend meet his gaze.

"I figured that it'd be a nice gesture," Axel explained calmly. He laced his hands together under his chin. "Considering he's spending the night at your place, and that Cloud would kick your ass if you made him too sore. So yeah. Plus! It's one of those extra lubricated and scented kind! Lovely, really."

Sora continued growing in color.

Riku chuckled uneasily and eyed it. "I have some, you know…"

"Still? They're probably too old," Axel answered. He ignored the petrified stares he got from Sora and Roxas. "What?" he questioned finally. "It's just sex talk, my god. What are we? Thirteen? We're all mature gays at this table. I think we all know what a condom is and what it's purpose is."

"Wow, Axel being mature. That's new," Roxas muttered and folded his arms to his chest.

"Of course we know what it is," Riku stated defensively and continued holding the object up, as if afraid to put it anywhere. "I just don't think you need to talk about it at a dinner table. And so damn openly." The silveret looked to Sora who seemed quite shocked and shaky. Riku frowned. "Sor…" he whispered into the brunet's ear. "Relax, okay?"

Sora shivered at the whisper. He shyly looked back to his boyfriend and nodded. "I'm fine…just surprised, that's all."

"Yeah. Not every day that you're given a condom at a restaurant," Riku laughed and finally pocketed the damn thing. "Listen, I have to go back and work the counter. I just wanted to check up on you guys. But I guess I wandered in at the wrong part of this conversation."

"You could say that," Roxas stated and shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, have a nice dinner, Sora," he stated and slyly gave a squeeze to his boyfriend's knee. He got up, allowing his hand to slide up the entirety of the youth's leg before vanishing back into the restaurant, leaving Sora with permanent shivers and shudders. And a blush, too.

"Well, that was awkward," Axel joked and smiled at the two males. "Perhaps we should just order."

"Yes, let's."

And that's what they did. But even though the condom and the talk were gone, Sora couldn't help but wonder what Riku would do with the pocketed object. Would he just throw it away or…his body trembled and he found it hard to eat. Tonight was going to be more than awkward, he finally decided. More than awkward, indeed, considering he had never...seen a condom used before. Aha…

-xxxxxxx-

Riku was in the shower cleaning off from work and Sora was on the couch. The brunet was busily writing down the month's events in the maroon diary. His eyes were heavy and he felt his heart beating erratically. With every word he wrote, he became that more nervous. But why was he nervous? Perhaps simply because he was reliving everything that had happened—all the devastation and greatness and fear.

Sora was about to begin writing about the…shower incident when his cell phone rang. Sora quickly answered it, not bothering to check the number. He figured it was just Tidus. He was the only one other than Cloud that had the number. And Cloud promised that he wouldn't call tonight and interrupt anything that may or may not happen. And of course, when Cloud had said that, Sora had blushed.

"Hello?" the brunet inquired and lounged further on Riku's couch.

"Is this Sora Kayaki?" Ah Sephiroth.

"Yep," Sora answered and paused. "Sephiroth?" he guessed. He would have addressed him more formally but he really didn't know any other name to call him.

"I was calling about an email…" Sephiroth stated slowly.

"What do you mean?" Sora sat up. "I haven't checked my emails since like…two days ago. What's there?" Right, he had given Sephiroth access to his email address so that he could monitor what Zexion was saying and whatnot, and hopefully get a reading on where the damn bastard was so he could pin him for an offense and send him to jail for once and for all.

"Zexion sent you an email at three today," Sephiroth explained. "I figure you haven't read it yet? Well, don't be alarmed, all right?"

Sora didn't care about what Sephiroth was saying. "Just get to the point. I'm really busy…"

"Zexion wants you to meet him tomorrow at the mall at four, Sora. It's an open place. He won't pull anything. I'm going to go with you and catch him." Sora's stomach dropped. "We caught the remaining gang members last night in a bust. Zexion is the last to go. And we finally are going to catch him and bring him down to the station to prove that he is responsible for—"

"At the mall," Sora repeated. "And you'll be there to protect me, right?"

"Of course," Sephiroth answered. "As well as a few other officers. Sora, you don't know how grateful everyone here would be if you cooperated. We're finally going to put an end to all of this. Demyx and I want to be the ones that put Zexion away for good."

Sora nodded slowly. "What if he knows it's a trap?"

"…then we'll be ready," Sephiroth responded after a delayed moment. "Don't worry. We have this taken care of, Sora."

"I want Riku to go with me," Sora finally confessed. "I want him in on this."

"…Riku?"

"Yes," Sora stated voice quiet and defeated. "I trust him more than anyone else…even more than my own brother. I want him there with me. I want him nearby when I talk to Zexion. If Riku doesn't help, then I'm not going to go through with this. Besides, I'll need to use his computer to respond to Zexion…"

"All right," Sephiroth sighed. "May I talk to my brother, then?"

"He's in the shower right now." Sora sat up some. "He'll be done in a few minutes. Call Riku's house phone, I'm low on minutes."

"All right," Sephiroth said. "Have a good night, Sora."

Sora muttered a goodbye and closed his cell-phone. He replayed the conversation countless times over and over in his head. The gang was captured. All except Zexion. Organization Thirteen was slowly diminishing. They just needed Zexion. And Sora was the only one that could bring Zexion out from his cave and catch him in the act. Catch him trying to seduce and hurt a minor. Sora inhaled deeply.

Riku left the bathroom a few moments later, towel wrapped around his waist. The silveret walked over and smirked at his boyfriend. "Evening, love," he greeted and sat down beside him.

Sora blushed when he realized that Riku was only wearing a very, very small towel. His throat tightened and he couldn't help but stare. "Oh, hi, Riku…"

"I needed to talk to you," Riku confessed. "It's about ear—" The phone rang. "..Let me go get that and we'll talk afterwards, okay?" Sora nodded. "Talk to you soon, love," he whispered and kissed the curve of Sora's neck and departed from the couch.

Sora shivered and closed his eyes. His breathing was shallow and his mind bounced between the conversation at the café and the situation with Sephiroth. His heart beat frantically and he had no idea what to do. What to do…he knew that when Riku learned from Sephiroth what was going on…the mood would break. And he doubted Riku would agree. So Sora sat there, in silence, awaiting his demise. Awaiting Riku's look of disappointment. And as he sat there, he realized something. And that just disappointed him. He wished he had never told Sephiroth to call, because…he was ready.

He was ready for Riku to be his first…and he knew that the mood tonight wouldn't be right after that phonecall.

And he just wanted to cry as things were slowly coming to an end. For once and for all, indeed.