Chapter 20

                                    

                                          
Sora paid for his videogames, and took Riku's too. Riku tried to tell him that he could pay for them himself, but Sora ignored him. The girl hesitantly took the money, and gave him his change. Sora handed him his own bag, taking the others from the previous store as well.
                          
"I could pay," Riku said, taking his bags from Sora.
                          
"Yeah, well, I just wanted to pay," Sora told him with a shrug. "Gotta make things up."
                          
"You don't need to make up anything," Riku muttered. "Besides, while it did annoy me, you guys never actually really hurt my feelings."
                          
"Let's stop talking about it," Sora said. "Let's go get ice cream or something."
                          
Riku rolled his eyes, and followed Sora out of the store, watching him intently. For some reason, Riku felt something in his chest at seeing him so crestfallen. He didn't have a reason to, Riku never thought much of it.
                          
"Oh~"
                          
At hearing Sora's voice, and no longer seeing Sora in front of him, he snapped out of his thoughts and looked around. Riku saw Sora's face almost touching the glass of another store. (H: okay, I messed up. Just know they're at a mall. I realized I never said that.)
                          
Riku raised an eyebrow, then walked to his side. When he looked through the glass, he saw Roxas and Axel. He saw Axel excited, showing him tons of clothes. Roxas had a serious face, only looking at the clothes every once in a while.
                          
Riku rolled his eyes, and turned away. Just as he was about to start walking, he felt something warm around his wrist that prevented him from leaving. Riku looked down and saw Sora's hand.
                          
"Riku...I...we need to talk about something," Sora muttered, looking away. "Axel and Roxas reminded me that I can't ignore it."
                          
Riku only nodded, unable to verbally respond. The look in Sora's eyes was something that he hadn't seen on anyone before. It kind of scared him. Had he done something wrong? Sora pulled him to the side, where they wouldn't block people's ways.
                          
"What's this about, Sora? You got serious all of a sudden," Riku said, attempting to smile but it was obvious it wad forced. Sora could tell.
                          
"Riku, I may not have spent a long time with you, and I might've been an jerk to you but I never meant to hurt you or any other people. It's only because of the friends I hang out with. I'm sorry," Sora whispered, his grip on Riku's wrist loosening. He did grab onto his hand though, lacing his fingers with Riku's. "I just wanted to let you know that the kiss I gave you before was not meant to make fun of you. I get it, you don't like me. You probably don't even want to be here with me, but you are only because of the conditions I set."
                          
"Sora, I-"
                          
"The worst part is that now I'm sure of my feelings, the feelings that I never wanted to acknowledge," Sora continued, cutting off anything Riku wanted to say. He gripped onto his tighter, making Riku wonder if Sora would ever let go during this conversation. "I understand if you hate me after this. Just because you like guys doesn't mean you'll like me, and I get it. Who wants to be together with a spoiled and rude rich kid?"
                          
"A lot of people, actually. But-"
                          
Sora laughed, but it didn't sound like his usual happy one. It was full of sadness, and for some reason, Riku felt like it was his fault. In a way, it was.
                          
"You're right. But you? No matter what you're feelings are, you'd be better off without me," Sora smiled sadly, gently letting go of his hand. "My friends won't like you, and I don't want to hurt you. Tidus hates you, he won't stop until he gets back at you."
                          
Riku gritted his teeth, and pried Sora's hand off. Hurt flashed in Sora's eyes, but he was prepared. He knew that Riku wouldn't accept his feelings.
                          
"Tidus can do whatever he wants, I'm not scared of him," Riku growled, surprising the younger teenager. "He thinks the whole damn world revolves around him. He likes you, Sora. That's why he's being like that to me. He's jealous."
                          
"No, he doesn't."
                          
"Yeah he does! No one hates someone for nothing. I know he doesn't like me because I'm not like him, but I've also seen the hatred in his eyes whenever you guys wanted to play bullies," Riku told him, and ran a hand through his hair, clearly very upset. "I don't know for how long, and quite frankly, I don't care. If I was going to get hurt, then wouldn't I have already?"
                          
"So...does that mean..."
                          
Sora trailed off, not wanting to say anything else. He hoped that Riku understood. Riku looked away, trying to figure it out. When he turned back to Sora, he shrugged.
                          
"Don't know. Let's just finish this week, and I'll tell you my response after," Riku told him, and while Sora was a bit upset, at least he would get an answer soon. "You're still a mystery to me."
                          
"Alright," Sora muttered, staring at his feet for a moment before looking back up at Riku's bright eyes. "Sure. Let's keep walking around. Are Roxas and Axel meeting up with us later?"
                          
"From what we saw, I'd say they made up, so I doubt it," Riku responded. "Then again, Axel will probably come to us, maybe let's stay a bit longer around here."
                          
Sora nodded, and looked down at the bags in their hands. He thought for a moment, before dragging Riku into the store Axel and Roxas were. Riku's eyes widen, and tried to leave but Sora kept pulling hand.
                          
"What are you doing?" Riku asked in a harsh whisper.
                          
"What does it look like?" Sora asked, as if it was the most obvious thing. "Going into the store."
                          
"But why?!"
                          
"Because I feel like it."
                          
A/N: ...Hi. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed.