A/N: Hope you like this fic. It was, as per usual, scribbled down far too late at night in orange felt tip, this time under the influence of caffeine and vanilla yoghurt (go read Better Than Chocolate by Debra and you'll get an idea of how fantastic this yoghurt was). This fic is desperately cliché, desperately fluffy, desperately waffy, and as such should not be touched with anything shorter than a ten-foot bargepole.
Shounen-ai warnings ain't the half of it.
Anyway, for those of you who have plucked up the courage to read this far, thankyou. Your comments & thoughts would be much appreciated.
Disclaimer: you know the drill by now. Not mine, never will be.

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Breep, breep.
Click.
"Ishida."
"Hey, Matt..."
CLICK.

Breep, breep.
Click.
"Ishida."
"Look, Yama..."
CLICK.

Breep, breep.
Click.
"Yes?"
"Listen, Matt..."
CLICK.
Sigh...

...

Knock, knock.
Click.
"Yes?-"
"Matt, don't slam the..."
WHAP.
"...door..."
Tai sat down on the pavement and buried his head in his hands, fighting to keep from screaming - at Matt, at himself, at the tears that threatened to spill out.
No. I'm not going to cry. Not again.
Despite his best efforts, a tear slid down his cheek, and he scrubbed at it angrily. Another followed it, but even as he lifted his sleeve to wipe it away, an image flashed across his mind.

**

"No way!"
"Yes way! It'll be fun!"
"We'll both get soaked!"
Tai rolled his eyes at his unadventurous boyfriend. "Duh! That's the whole point."
"There is so no way I'm going out there," Matt proclaimed, wrapping his black coat even tighter around himself.
"But Yama-channnnn..."
Matt glowered at him. "Don't do this, Tai. Not the big liquid eyes again. All it does is make you look like a kicked spaniel."
Tai grinned inwardly - when Matt resorted to insults, he knew he'd already won. Outwardly, he trained the full force of his patented Kicked Spaniel look on the blonde, jutting his lower lip out slightly for good measure.
It took less than a minute for Matt's resistance to fail completely.
"Alright, alright," he conceded exasperatedly, "I'll come with you. But don't expect me to join in."
Tai grinned and began jumping around happily. "Aww, you're sooo nice, Yama-kun."

Bare seconds later, they were outside, the hyperactive, wild-haired brunette splashing happily through puddles, seemingly oblivious to the pouring rain. Behind him, Matt followed at a more sedate pace, shoulders hunched against the horrible weather, hands rammed deep into his pockets.
Tai glanced over his shoulder, then turned and bounced back to his reticent boyfriend, ignoring Matt's flinch as he was showered with water. He grabbed Matt's elbow, dragged the hand from its pocket, and encircled it tightly with his own.
"Go on, Yama-kun," he pleaded, "just once? Just close your eyes, and jump..."
His boyfriend glared at him, strands of wet hair straggling down into his blue eyes - but at the first sign of the Spaniel Look resurfacing he grimaced, closed his eyes and jumped.
The splash was incredible - the puddle had been much deeper than Tai anticipated, and water scattered far and wide.
He giggled happily, turned to Matt just in time to receive a disapproving look, and grinned up at the taller boy.
"Now you can't say that wasn't fun." He dropped to one knee, hands resting lightly in front of him, ignoring the torrential rain that plastered his hair wetly to his head. "Race you to the end of the street?"
Slowly, very slowly, like the sun coming out after a thunderstorm, Matt's face broke into a grin.
"You're on."
Seconds later they were flying down the road, laughing and shouting, splashing through puddles and generally drenching both themselves and each other.
Tai made it to the corner a bare two seconds ahead of Matt - and turned just in time to have the blonde cannon into him, wrapping his long arms around his boyfriend and hugging him tightly.
Tai reached up and tucked a wayward strand of wet blonde hair behind Matt's ear, then stretched up and kissed him fiercely.
"See? I told you you'd have fun."

**

A sliver of light fell across him, and Tai looked up. The door was open just a crack, but there was no sign of Matt.
He got to his feet slowly, brushing the last of his tears away and taking a deep breath. Gingerly, he pushed the door open, to reveal Matt standing with his back to the door, staring out of the window at the evening sky.
Oh boy. This is not going to be pretty.
He stepped inside and shut the door as carefully as he could.
"Matt?"
The blonde turned round slowly, tears mingling with anger on his face.
"What do you want?"
The sharp, steely tone of his voice made Tai flinch.
"I...I came to say I'm sorry..."
He pulled the flowers out from behind his back and held them towards the blonde. Matt's eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful bouquet, deep red roses mixed with stunning, delicate pink flowers that he couldn't identify. His expression, though, remained cold and distant, his eyes icy and hard, and he made no move to take them.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Tai couldn't take it any longer.
"Matt...please say something. I'm so, so sorry, koi... It was a stupid thing to do."
Anger flared in Matt's eyes. "Oh really?" he spat sarcastically. "Do you really think so?"
Suddenly, all the fire went out of him, and he slumped down onto the windowsill, staring out at the dark sky with empty eyes.
"God, Tai, of all people, why him? Why did you have to kiss him?"
"I...I didn't mean to..."
"Oh, that makes it all right, doesn't it," Matt said, sounding too tired even to be angry. "You didn't mean to kiss my little brother. Fantastic."
Tai dropped his eyes to the floor. "Matt...if you'd just let me explain..."
"Go right ahead. I'm dying to hear your excuse."
Tai winced. "Please, please don't be like this... I feel awful enough already."
Getting no response, he took a deep breath, and started to try and explain.

**

"Taichi?"
Tai turned and smiled down at the young blonde. "Can I help you, Takeru?"
Takeru stared at the floor, shuffling his feet. "Um...yeah. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Um...something private?"
Tai blinked. "Of course. Come on in." He held the door open and followed the fourteen-year-old into the house, hoping that Takeru wouldn't comment on the clothes, CDs and various other things strewn about the floor. He was sure Matt had left a pair of boxers somewhere around after their last...date...and he hoped fervently that they wouldn't put in an unwelcome appearance.
However, the younger boy seemed to have other things on his mind. He stood there, shifting nervously from foot to foot, eventually raising apprehensive blue eyes to meet Tai's.
Tai had about a second to marvel at how like his brother he was starting to look, and then Takeru opened his mouth.
"What's it like to kiss someone?"
That caught Tai off-guard. He opened and shut his mouth a few times before coming up with a response.
"Why do you ask?"
Takeru swallowed. "Well, um, I've kissed your sister a couple of times, and...I just didn't feel anything. It was nothing like it's supposed to be. I wondered if I was, you know...doing something wrong."
Tai raised an eyebrow. "So what are you asking me for?"
"Can I... can I kiss you?"
Surprise after surprise. Tai was almost speechless. On the one hand, what would Matt say if he found his boyfriend kissing his younger brother? On the other hand, this had obviously taken a lot of TK's courage to ask. Maybe turning him down would hurt him too much.
Eventually Tai came to a decision. "Are you sure?"
Takeru's eyes lit up. "You mean you'll let me?"
"Just once. And afterwards I want to know why you chose me."
Takeru flicked his gaze downwards. "You and Matt are the only ones I know who are...that way, and obviously I can't ask my brother, so..."
Tai smiled at him. "Oh, I understand. You want to know what it's like to kiss another boy?"
Takeru blushed. "Uh...yeah, I guess that's it..."
Tai ruffled his hair. "OK then. You ready?"
"Mm-hmm." Takeru tilted his head up, shaking very slightly as he waited for the older boy.
Tai leaned down towards him, pressing his lips very gently against the young blonde's. Takeru flinched, almost pulling away, then relaxed into the kiss, taking up a tentative hold on Tai's shoulders.
After a few seconds, Tai pulled back, to see Takeru stood there, lips still slightly apart, cheeks a light shade of pink and eyes closed. He waved a hand in front of the boy's face, and his eyes snapped open.
"Takeru? You OK?"
Takeru licked his lips, looking embarrassed. "Yeah, sorry."
Tai gave him a searching look. "Who were you thinking about, just then?"
Takeru blushed an even deeper shade of pink. "No-one."
"Don't lie, Takeru."
"I told you, no-one. Honest!"
Tai cupped the younger boy's chin in his hand and pulled his head up until their eyes met.
"Once more. Who?"
The younger boy's eyes flicked away from the penetrating chocolate gaze. "Iori."
Tai grinned. "Aww, how sweet."
Takeru turned away angrily. "Don't say that."
"Why not? I think you'd make a great couple."
"Seriously?"
"Of course!"
Takeru turned back, wrapping his arms tightly around the older boy. "Thanks, Tai."
Tai rested his chin on the top of the smaller boy's head. "You're welcome."
Just then there was a noise from outside, and Tai swung round just in time to see Matt's face at the window. He blanched, and raced to the door, but by the time he'd wrenched it open and rushed out his boyfriend was long gone...

**

"So you see, it wasn't what you thought it was..." Tai finished somewhat lamely. "He was just, I dunno, confused I guess. He needed someone to tell him that what he was feeling wasn't something dirty, wasn't something disgusting. I just did what I thought he needed."
He had been looking at the floor throughout his speech, and so didn't notice Matt walking over to him. The first he knew was when a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders and squeezed him tightly. For a minute he didn't know whether Matt was trying to strangle him or not, but then the blonde leaned down and murmured in his ear.
"Tai, I swear, if you pull anything like this again I am going to kill you. Just this once, though, I'll let you off. Never again. I don't care what my brother or anyone else is going through, OK? From now on those lips are going to kiss me and no-one else. Starting right now."
Matt pulled his boyfriend's head up and kissed him fiercely, meshing their mouths and tongues until Tai's head spun from lack of oxygen.
Eventually, he pulled away, taking the bouquet from Tai's unresisting fingers.
"Oh, koi, you shouldn't have..."
Tai remembered how to work his mouth. "Well, I knew you loved roses, and the other things just caught my eye... The roses are called Deep Secret, and the others are pelargoniums, I think."
Matt sniffed deeply, inhaling the beautiful sweet musk of the deep red roses, marvelling at the colour of the pelargoniums. They were the most gorgeous pink colour, with purple lines radiating out along the petals until they mingled with the pink in a dark red that exactly matched the roses. It looked like someone had tried to paint on the petals and the colours had run together, forming a beautiful, accidental masterpiece.
Without warning, he launched himself at his boyfriend, enveloping Tai in a warm hug.
"Koi, when you bring me things as beautiful as this, how can I not forgive you?"
He pulled back, and fixed Tai with a no-nonsense stare.
"Seriously, though, you're not getting away with this a second time. If TK ever asks you the same thing again, you know what to do."
Tai tried a hopeful grin. "Tell him to ask Iori?"
Matt laughed and hugged him again. "Got it in one. Now, how on earth are we going to get those two together?"
Tai kissed him deeply, loving the feel of his koi's soft, warm lips against his own, their tongues dancing around one another. When he finally pulled back, both of them were flushed and panting, with Matt's hair in disarray for the first time in living memory.
"I love you." It felt like telling the biggest secret in the world. Matt smiled lovingly at him.
"I love you too."


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A/N: Boy, Lynne is going to get it in the neck for this one. Sorry to have put you all through that. You can leave abuse and everything else I deserve by clicking Review.
And if anyone wants to know what the hell pelargoniums look like, email me and I'll send a picture of one.
Until next time, clear skies to you all.
xx