Who I really love (Sora x Riku)

Part 3

(Riku's POV)

Sora whimpers and shivers so I slide my arm around him to both keep him warm and prevent him from running away. We left the planning of our first date up to Kairi yesterday, and she chose an amusement park. We'd tried every ride except for the haunted houses. Sora refused to ride them but I said he could have another point of victory and I promised him I'd be there by him the whole way. I wasn't going on without him.

"But Riku... It's really late and cold... We can come back another day or something," he protests, shivering from both the cold and presumably the threat of the haunted house.

I take off my coat and wrap it around him snuggly before taking his hands in mine to warm them up for a moment. "We'll be fine. The park doesn't close for another hour and your mother knows where we are."

"Riku..."

"You can wait out here alone in the night or go on one scary ride. I'll be right beside you in there, but out here you'll have to face the darkness alone. I don't want to go on without you."

"Why? It'd be better for both of us if you just went in alone." He stops walking and he stands there, shivering refusing to move.

"I'll be scared without you, Sora." It wasn't exactly the truth but he smiles and comes in close to me again. Then he shakes his head, unconvinced.

"Really? ... I don't believe you..."

I pull him into a hug and then stared into his magnificent blue eyes. "I wouldn't have made it this far without you. I know that I'm okay because you are by my side. Please. It won't be any scarier than Halloween Town or Monstropolis, okay?" He thinks for a moment, looking skeptical, but then with his voice quivering agrees to go. "Let's go then."

Luckily it was getting dark and barely anyone was there, meaning it was only a short line and giving Sora less opportunity to change his mind. We enter the haunted house, Sora clinging to me tightly and so pale it looked like he was sick. He looks up at me before we go into complete darkness, wanting to be reassured. I ruffle his hair and kiss his head. "Just stay close," I whisper to him as we walk forward a meter into the pitch black house. A little further and a fake clap of thunder and illuminating lightning makes Sora squeal, jump out of his skin and cling on to me even tighter.

"I can't, Riku. Let's go back, please..." With his voice on the verge of tears my heart melts, but I stay firm and continue walking forward. He is dragged along, not wanting to let go. We proceed through a rickety creaking old door and are greeted by a dimly lit room full of fake skeletons and blood. Every step taken leads to an unnerving crunching sound. Sora whimpers.

"It's fake and you've seen worse. I'm right here by you, and do you think I'd let anything happen to you?"

"I know it's fake but - !" Another lightning strike doesn't allow him to finish. He jumps and screeches again before taking a deep breath. He grabs my hand and pulls me further into the spook house as fast paced as he can, concentrating hard and blocking out everything around him. He walks straight through a giant cob web and doesn't even notice the eerie moans and wails nor the thick, unknown liquid substance dripping onto us from the ceiling.

"Sora, stop! Slow down, what're you doing?" I object. He's going dangerously fast and as he wasn't aware of his surroundings it was more than likely that he'd get hurt.

"I'm getting us out of here quickly. I can't take it."

I stop, forcing him too as well. "You're gonna get us lost, Sora. Then we'll be trapped even longer. Stay calm, and instead of focusing on the exit or the things around us, focus on me. You trust me, don't you?" I take his give his hand a reassuring squeeze and take the lead. We get a few more meters before he complains again.

"R-R-Riku? Do you hear that?"

"It's a haunted house ride, Sora. There's gonna be noises everywh-" I begin, but then I hear the unsettling noise too. Even I'm slightly startled. "It's buzzing... Sounds mechanical..." It grows louder. Sora hugs me, burying his head in my chest. I wrap my arms around him and kiss him on the head. "It'll be okay, Sora, but let's keep moving." I suggest but then from around the corner comes a masked figure with a bloody chainsaw. Sora grabs my hand and we make a run for it, Sora running faster than he'd ever done in one of our races.

"ACK!" He cries as something trips him and he goes through a hidden door. Something grabs my leg too and I trip over, landing on top of him. The stars and the lights from the ride illuminate the area around us. We made it out. I rolled off of Sora onto the grass. He sits up curled up into a ball, making noises like sobbing. A pang of guilt hits me. I hope that didn't scare him too bad. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Sora... I'm sorry... Are you okay?" He faces me and to my extreme surprise he wasn't sobbing but laughing like a maniac. "Wh-what?! Sora?" Uh-oh. Did I break him? Uh-oh.

"Riku! That was brilliant! Let's do it again, please! Pretty please!" he begs.

I chuckle, relieved, and pick myself up and dust the grass from our fall off myself. I extend my hand to help Sora up. He takes it, still smiling. I pet my goofy idiot's spikey hair lovingly. "Not today. I've had enough."

"Awww come on Riku, you're the one who wanted to go on those rides anyway!" He gives me his puppy dog eyes that are hard to say no to, but I have to.

"We'll come again next week. I promise."

"...Fine..."

"Come on, I'll walk you home." I take his hand.

"Aren't you staying over again tonight?"

"I can't, I'm sorry Sora. My father... You know what he's like." I want to, but I can't. My father... He's probably ready to kill me, I've already been away for three days straight. Another day away wouldn't be safe at all.

"Okay..." He understands what I meant, but he doesn't make it any easier to leave him as his face reflected so much sadness. A bit of me was happy that me being by his side could mean so much to him, however.

"Cheer up, Sora, or you'll make me want to stay by your side, and that isn't a wise idea. I'll call you, I'll stay up all night on the phone, but I have to go home today."

He nods sadly, takes a deep breath then looks into my eyes with the biggest smile he could muster on his face. He looks so silly... and adorable. His preciousness deserves a reward so I kiss him longer and more passionately than I had ever yet.

Finally we arrived at his home and had to say goodbye. "Riku... I'll miss you..." He cries and wipes away a beautiful diamond like tear.

"Sheesh, Sora, it's only for a few hours. We've gone way longer without each other." Thank goodness it was dark, I was blushing like some silly school girl. Sora was too sweet. How the hell did someone like myself end up with such an angel? He was acting like he knew what would happen when I got home... But he didn't know what it'd be like, and I'd never tell him. If just us parting ways made him this upset, knowing what my father was truly like when I got home would break him.

"I know... I'll see you tomorrow. I love you Riku," he says and turns away to go in the house.

"I love you too," I call out to him before setting out to my place. As soon as I'm a few meters away my heart sinks as it sets in that it was really time to go home and face him after three days absence. This wasn't going to end well.