A/N: The First epilogue. The story is complete as of last chapter, and I just wanted to bring myself back to a personal favorite concept. Thanks everyone for reading. I hope this is something you all will enjoy!
Chapter 24:
It was a solemn day at the café… and Sora… and Sora…
He grinned to himself and laughed quietly to himself.
Who was Sora kidding? The days at the café were anything but solemn these days. Perhaps it was because he was stuck on Cloud 9. He constantly kept sneaking peaks at Kairi whenever they worked together, and his eyes would always linger far too long to be casual glances. She would feel his eyes on her, turn and grin at him, and motion with her fingers to get back to work. Sora would happily oblige for about twenty minutes before repeating the whole process. To anyone who knew Sora, it was obvious that he was head over heels for the girl he kept watching. Though Sora was not going to verbally say anything about it to Riku. Sora knew what Riku would do.
…though Riku was already teasing him over the whole ordeal… and Xion wasn't there to smack him on the chest for 'teasing the lovebirds.'
Didn't change the fact that Sora was completely okay with Riku catching the quick kisses Kairi and Sora shared. And, the cycle repeated as Sora looked at Kairi again… though this time she was ready. She pointed at the door, and mouthed 'focus' at him.
The bell chimed to the sound of a cute girl walking inside. Sora turned to the girl, a wide grin on his face and his mind still on his girlfriend as he greeted the customer, "Welcome to Destiny Café! What can I get started for you today?" He twirled his sharpie marker in an intricate fashion.
The blonde girl twirled her hair a bit, as she looked up at the menu, "Um… I don't know… I've never been here before… my mom said it was good, though." she leaned on the counter, showing her lowcut shirt off to the boy behind the register, "You know the menu pretty well, right?"
Unphased by the girl, Sora popped the top off the marker and halted his fingers with pen at the ready, "I know the menu inside and out." Sora slipped a low, snide comment as his eyes flicked towads Riku, "Probably better than Mr. Perfect."
"I heard that!" Sora tuned out the half hearted explanation from Riku on why he wasn't 'Mr. Perfect.'
The girl forced a small giggle, "well then, what would you recommend?"
Sora caught Riku in the corner of his eye. The silver haired teen was smirking as his eyes shifted between the two of them. The brilliant Sora didn't take the hint, "For you, let's see… do you like strong, or weak?"
"Strong." She supported her head with her hands as her eyes trailed up and down Sora, "what girl likes weak?"
"I dunno. Most of them usually like the sugary fatty stuff…" Sora tapped the marker to his chin, crossing his arms and letting some of his muscles show, "Well… for you, I think you could get behind a mocha cappuccino. Medium." Sora wrote it down on the cup, and slid it down to Roxas, who was trying not to laugh for some reason, "Sound good?"
"Perfect." The girl stood up, crossing her arms under her breasts.
Sora was so busy doing what Kairi had told him to do ('focus, Sora!) that he failed to notice his girlfriend beginning to sneak up behind him.
Sora smirked, and punched it all in on the register, "Awesome, that'll be four twenty-five. Cash, credit, debit?"
The girl started going for her back pocket, keeping up this wide smile on her face, "also, just curious when do you-"
Sora didn't hear the actual question, as he felt a hand take a firm squeeze on his right butt cheek. With a pelvic movement forward and away from his harasser, he looked to see who the offender was. Surprisingly, the culprit didn't even try to disguise herself. Kairi walked by him, looking over her shoulder with a devilish smirk. Sora smiled at her with a flirtatious grin, "what was that for?"
"Just marking what's mine." She blew him a kiss, and swayed her hips as she went to the back room.
Sora shook his head, "everyone knows, Kairi!" he looked back up at the girl who was ordering, and saw that her smile had dwindled, "oh, sorry about that. What were you going to say?"
"Nothing… not anymore, anyway." She took her card out, and paid for her drink.
Once she was out the door, Sora sighed, "she seemed so much happier when she walked in… what happened?" Sora's musing was the catalyst for Roxas and Riku to cease controlling their laughter. The duo bursted in a quiet snicker that very quickly turned into an uproar. Absolutely confused, he turned to them, "what? Did I miss something?"
"Yeah." Roxas leaned over the counter, and tugged his crewneck down, "you missed the entire part where that girl was hitting on you. Hard."
"And you missed Kairi's reaction when she saw it." Riku leaned back on the sink area, shaking his head to try and stop himself, "dude, she watched that whole thing, and before she could ask what you were doing after work she mouths to me 'hell no' and just… gets a handful of your ass." Riku grinned at his friends, "Dude, how did you not catch on?"
…now that Sora was red with embarrassment, it sure started to seem about as obvious as the two boys were suggesting it was. "I… I was… I was doing my job..?"
"Sora, you're my best friend." Riku patted him on the back, "I love you like a brother, but holy shit. You're an idiot with girls."
Sora slipped out of Riku's grasp and brushed himself off, "I will have you know that I got a girlfriend. So I have to be pretty smooth."
"Yeah, smooth like crunchy peanut butter." Roxas laughing as he rotated himself behind the register to help an elderly couple order their drinks for the evening.
"Seriously." Riku took the first cup and passed it to Sora, "I was worried you'd lose out on Kairi. I'm glad she was able to put the fear of god into you with that text."
Roxas took the second cup, "They want two apple turnovers, Sora." Sora went on auto pilot, moving over to the glass counter where the various baked goods were resting. Roxas continued, "I'm amazed you were able to even ask her out, Sora."
"I don't wanna hear it, Roxas." Sora handed the elderly couple the pastries with a smile and a 'thank you' before turning to the blonde, "You're still single, and you're in the same boat I was."
Roxas turned pink and looked at the now full cup of coffee, "I-I'm not in the same boat… n-not anymore…"
That had Sora and Riku's full attention, as well as Kairi's who reappeared from the back. Kairi spoke what was on everyone's mind, "Nuh uh."
Roxas nodded, rubbing the back of his head, "Was kind of spur of the moment… I was skating and she was drawing… I slipped and…" Roxas looked up to see that all three sets of eyes were on him, and that they had all gotten closer, he looked up turning redder, "…well, uh… she asked if I was okay, and… I dunno… she looked really cute and I just kinda said 'I guess I can't myself from falling for you'…"
"Did you get a concussion?" Riku asked, getting an evil glare from Kairi, "What? It's an important question. Roxas didn't have the stomach to do it before, so he had to have hit his head."
"W-why are we saying I didn't have the guts? It took Sora almost a full year to say anything to his crush! I did it in like, half that time!"
Kairi shook her head, "no… he had the guts. Trust me. I know. He almost threw them up."
Roxas and Riku turned to Sora, both of them grinning. Riku took the lead, "Oh?" He looked at Roxas, "Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but I recall a brown haired guy telling me that he was smooth as butter when he confessed."
Sora butted in, "I-I didn't say that! I said I almost knocked her off her feet."
"Also true." Kairi added, wiping a nearby table off.
"..huh?" Roxas looked between the couple, "But… I… huh?"
That was when Riku's mother came out from the kitchen, "Alright… alright, enough is enough you four." She looked at all of them, but her eyes shot daggers into Riku which got him to hang his head in shame, "we're open for another two hours. Stay focused." Kairi smirked and Riku's mother, the watchful woman she was, caught her in the act, "That includes you, Kairi. Don't think I haven't noticed you eying Sora whenever he leaned over to wipe off a table."
The dark blush in Kairi's face was all Sora needed to confirm the accusation. Riku began to let out a wolf whistle, but stopped abruptly when his mom threatened him with a mean glance. Kairi cleared her throat, "H-how did you..?" but, Kairi trailed off, deciding it was better to not know how Riku's mother knew.
Riku's mother let a playful smirk dance on her lips, "I'm his second mom. You wouldn't even be dating him if I didn't like you, sweetie."
The two hours went by without much of any of the group of friends usual shenanigans. With their boss on the prowl to tease the teenagers, none of the four wished to incur the teasing she would bring. Riku was the exception, but he kept in line. He was no stranger to his own mother and knew his mother was not a woman to be trifled with. Especially if you're her own flesh and blood.
With the café closed, Kairi and Sora began their walk towards home, a path they had walked more times than they could count. The biggest difference was that Kairi's hands were intertwined with his, and their silly talks were replaced with casual flirts and bumping. Sora couldn't tell you what they talked about that night. All he could tell you was he didn't want to leave the beautiful red haired girls side. He even attempted to talk her into letting him stay the night.
That was when she reminded him her father would kill him if he did.
"But I don't want to say goodbye… I barely even got to be with you today…" Sora whined, hugging her in front of her doormat.
Kairi was trying her best not to laugh, "Sora, you know I have to go to bed eventually, right?"
"…yeah… but not right now… and not without me…" Sora began to sway gently, his body starting to show the effects of exhaustion. "I'm not saying good night."
"Then how about this," Kairi stopped Sora from swaying, and got on her toes to give Sora a deep and passionate kiss, one that Sora returned, and kept going for as long as he possibly could… a solid five minutes. "…that was supposed to be a lot shorter."
Sora laughed and leaned back in, "I can keep it going, if you want,"
Kairi turned her head and placed a finger to his lips, "Nuh uh, mister." She smirked, and leaned in with a quick kiss, "as I was saying, instead of saying goodnight, how about we say 'see you tomorrow'?"
"That," Sora kissed her one last time, knowing full well that this was the best compromise he would get, "sounds like something I can get behind."
"You can get behind a lot more than that." She winked, and when Sora returned her smirk, she slipped out of his hands, "but, that won't be tonight, I'm afraid."
"Then why suggest it?" He laughed, "Getting my hopes up like that."
She opened the door, laughing… until she saw her older brother standing at the door, shirtless and grinning like the devil. Kairi blushed, "H-how much did you hear..?"
"Enough." Axel reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small, square package, "If you want him 'behind' you, then you're going to need this."
Kairi blushed, and whispered as loud as she could, "Axel!" She reached for him, but he slipped away. Making his way towards the kitchen for a snack of some kind. Kairi however, wouldn't let his innuendo go unpunished. She turned back to Sora, "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"
The boyfriend nodded, "Tomorrow, then. Love you."
"Love you, too." Kairi closed the door, and Sora started to make his way towards his house. He paused at the white picket fence, and looked behind him at Kairi's room, seeing her light on, and she was at the window. She blew him a kiss, and he returned it.
Her light went off as he made it across the street, and he walked into his house, closing the door behind him. Tomorrow had a nice ring to it. He couldn't wait to see her again.