Chapter Text
“Yeah. That’s right, I am seeing someone,” Sora said, pushing his shoulders back and his chest out.
Everyone was looking at him now. Damn it, it wasn’t that surprising, was it? It seemed like everyone else had someone – why shouldn’t Sora be dating, too? Maybe he shouldn’t have said it. No, he definitely shouldn’t have said it. But what else was he supposed to do when Xion goaded him on like that? And besides, why did it have to be a couples thing anyway?
“That’s great, Sora. Who is it?” Namine asked, linking her arm into Xion’s as she entered the conversation.
His confidence wavered only slightly at the question; lying was never his strong suit, but he’d started in with this, so he had to follow through. His chest deflated for only a moment as he looked around, eyes landing on someone off in the distance walking along the upper edge of the beach with Roxas.
“Riku,” he said without another moment’s hesitation. “It’s Riku. We’ve been keeping it quiet until now. But I guess now you know!”
“Really.” Sora suspected by the smirk on Lea’s face that he was not convinced.
“Yes, really,” he said, a distinct blush heating his cheeks.
“Well, it’s about damn time if I do say so myself.” He gave Sora a loud clap! on the back before draping his arm over his shoulders. “You and loverboy have been making moon eyes at each other since before I’ve known you.”
Sora frowned as Lea ruffled his hair. His instinct was to decry the claim, and he opened his mouth to do so – but then he realized Lea was probably trying to catch him in his lie. He shrugged out of the taller man’s hold on him.
But Namine’s smile brightened. “Then you can come with us after all! Right, Xi?”
“I guess,” said Xion dubiously. Sora pouted. “That is unless you’re making it up.”
You know, for a part of me, she sure doesn’t act like me, he thought a little sourly before shooting back with a bold, “We’ll be there.” He gave her a look of determination, to which she replied with a raised brow. “Together,” he added. Then, for good measure, “You know. As a couple.”
Lea laughed.
The teasing didn’t let up after that. Once Isa joined the group, they told him the news, and he replied with as much open skepticism as Xion. Soon enough, almost everyone knew – including Kairi. Everyone, that was… except Riku himself, who was sitting on the beach alone on the other side of the island.
Sora felt guilty as he approached the scene, stalling beside Riku instead of sitting down.
Riku looked up at him and patted the sand beside him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Was it that obvious?
Sora tried to pull off a grin, but the expression looked pained, so he just dropped it and took a seat on the ground beside him. “I sort of…” He trailed off; now faced with actually having to tell Riku what happened, he wasn’t so sure he could pull it off.
“You sort of what?” He turned his body toward Sora and put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Sora blushed at the contact but didn’t shy away.
“I sort of need you to pretend we’re dating.” There. He blurted it all out at once, shoved his hands into the ground, and he looked at Riku with wide eyes, hoping in earnest Riku wouldn’t-
“You what?” He pulled his hand back from Sora’s shoulder, covering his mouth as a his whole face turned red.
“Well.” Sora took in a huge breath, then let it all out in one go: “Xion was planning a whole thing to the upcoming festival, you know, fireworks and rides and all, and I wanted to go, too, but she was all couples only and who says she gets to make the rules anyway? So I said, you know I’m seeing someone too! And she was all who and I don’t know, I just…” His eyes fell to the ground as he began to lose steam and he pushed the sand around with his fingers.
“So you lied,” Riku said. Sora nodded. When he heard Riku chuckle, he looked up to see him shaking his head.
“Please, Riku!”
“Why? You know they’re just teasing you. They can’t stop you from going, can they?”
“Well,” said Sora with a pout. “Don’t you want to go?”
“Yeah, but…” Riku shrugged. “I won’t pretend we’re dating when we’re not, Sora, I’m sorry.”
Sora nodded. He sighed. Now he had to admit to everyone he was lying – not that they didn’t already suspect as much. “Alright…” Resignedly, he leaned back on the heals of his palms and set his eyes out on the horizon alongside Riku. At least he wasn’t mad, he thought.
But this meant that they wouldn’t get to go on the rides together, or get their picture taken doing silly things, or share one giant cotton candy cone… “I wanted to watch the fireworks with you,” he admitted aloud.
“I didn’t say I’m not going,” said Riku with a chuckle.
“That’s great!” said Sora. He could still go with Riku! So… if he was still going… and he had someone to go with… Why did he still feel disappointed that Riku wouldn’t play along? He folded his hands behind his head and laid back in the sand.
Once the sun was down, they walked together back to the docks. Almost everyone had already gone back to the mainland, but Lea and Xion “couldn’t leave you two lovebirds out here by yourselves,” as Lea put it.
“Yeah, about that…” Sora paused and rubbed the back of his neck, shifting uncomfortably. He felt his face getting hot with Riku right beside him having to suffer the consequences of Sora’s lie. “You see—”
“What, broken up already?” Xion teased with her legs hanging over the edge of the dock though her feet didn’t reach the water. “Poor Sowa,” she said with a fake pout.
“Ah-ha, yeah, well, uh—”
Sora’s stammering stopped when Riku took his hand in his own, intertwining their fingers together. “Why would you say that?” Riku asked, and she laughed, looking between them with awe.
“No way! You’re actually dating?” she said, pulling herself up to her feet.
“It’s honestly not that hard to believe,” said Lea, patting Xion on the back. “I’m tellin’ ya, moon eyes. Since day number one. Come on. It’s getting late.”
As the attention moved away from them, Sora looked to Riku to see him blushing. “Riku…”
“Come on, darling,” said Riku, leading Sora toward the boat.
“I thought you said…?” he whispered once they were sitting down.
“Just until the festival,” said Riku. Sora wondered what he was thinking. “When is it?”
“In a few weeks.”
Riku’s eyes widened. Sora laughed nervously. That was… going to be a while to fake it. Might as well lean into it, he thought, awkwardly placing a hand on top of Riku’s. Riku pulled away at the touch, but as Xion looked their way, he placed it right back on top of Sora’s. His stomach twisted in a knot.
This was one of the worst ideas he’d ever had.