It was happening, why to him though? Just like the animes he watched when he was small, where the two main characters were in love and a school play came and always one would be Romeo and the other would be Juliet. And the two would kiss, and discover they like it. Except this wasn't like that, he wasn't in love with Romeo, it wasn't a girl and a boy and he so DID NOT enjoy this torture.
It all started three weeks ago, they were sitting in class trying to decide what they would do for the school festival this year. After wasting a whole day, argueing they decided they'd do the play Romeo and Juliet. And like the animes they drew from the hat and it just had to be him to get the role of Juliet. He groaned, and everyone laughed.
"Yamato as Juliet? I feel sorry for Romeo!" Tai joked as Matt groaned again.
"I don't know, I think he'd make a good Juliet" Sora said nearly falling over laughing.
"I think I should have been Juliet. I'll trade you!" Mimi said immediatly being told no by their teacher.
"So who's the lucky guy?" Tai asked sarcastically.
"Uh.. I think you better look in your hand" Izzy said, as everyone but Tai looked at their role.
Tai stared wide eyed at his role. "Hey.. Mimi? Do you want to trade with me instead?"
"Eww.. no way. I'm too pretty to play a guys role." She replied.
Sora laughed. "I think you two look cute together!" She said.
"Yeah. Aww that's so romantic, best friends become lovers through a play" Mimi added, dreamily.
"No way!" Tai shouted.
"You've got to be kidding me" Matt said at the same time.
"Can I maybe take your roles now?" The teacher interrupted sounding tired.
The others gave the teacher their roles, reluctantly, Matt did the same. And then the torture started. They practised for weeks finally coming down to the dreaded kissing scene, of course the teacher didn't make them kiss for the practices like in the shows he used to watch, the teacher told them to save that for the actual play.
Well now was that time. He waited for the curtains to rise and then the play would start. He grinded his teeth together. Ugh, the play. He wanted to forget about it and leave, but he couldn't it was far too late now. The stage lit up and the play started. They played out their roles perfectly like they would in the television shows. And then that part came, this would NOT be like the shows, he would not like this, it would be gross, Tai was another guy after all and he was his not so best friend!
Finally, it reached that scene. Tai moved his head closer, he was surprisingly a good actor when he got in the mood. He was quite surprised Tai wasn't grinning sheepishly at this whole thing, instead he didn't even flinch as he moved in for the kiss.
"Oh great" Matt thought as their lips made contact. "This is not supposed to feel good. Not like the shows, please no" Finally, they pulled away.
The play ended, and they stood back in class, the play was at the very end of the festival to bring it to an end. They were all getting prepared to go home.
"How did you enjoy that kiss?" Sora teased.
Matt blushed. And Tai merely laughed.
"I really think you two enjoyed it" Izzy added
Mimi giggled. "Yeah, you both could have pulled away sooner."
Matt blushed deeper and left the room, leaving his bag and stunned friends behind. He walked quickly, nearly jogging down the dark alleys home. It must have been the television shows he watched making him imagine that it felt good, yeah that's all it was. He would go home, go to sleep and forget about it the next day. That is if his friends would let him.
He turned the next corner and looked up at the quarter moon, he noticed then that the cherry trees were in full blossom and they drifted gently around him with the wind, it was a warm night, quite pleasant really. He slowed his place and took a deep breath and calmed himself. He gazed at the glowing petals falling around him and he couldn't help but smile to himself.
As he walked he started to hear the sounds of footsteps behind him. He knew he was just being paranoid, nobody would be following him, and he's only been hearing it for a couple of minutes, maybe they were just going in the same direction as he was. A few more minutes passed why was home so far away? He quickened his pace, hoping that the others pace wouldn't quicken with his, but it did. He was scared now, he drew in a deep breath and burst out in a sprint.
He stopped and put his hands on his knees, bending over to catch his breath. Thank god. He had lost whoever was following him. Well he thought so anyways, the sidewalk and green of his school uniform disapeared into black, strong arms covered his eyes and pulled him back and a soft piece of fabric crossed, and covered his mouth, the last thing he remembered was a strange smell..
He slowly opened his eyes. "Oh man" he thought "What happened?" his eyelids were heavy and he felt pains all over. He couldn't see anything, so he tried to move his hands to see what was over his eyes. He was pulled back, there was something around his wrists, ropes maybe? It suddenly all came back to him, and he panicked. He shook his head rapidly and tried to scream, there was something in his mouth, muffling all sounds.
The blindfold slowly slipped down as he shook his head and fell down to his bare shoulders. He opened his eyes again and tried to calm down enough to take in his surroundings. Okay, there was a bed across the room, the room was small, and smelled of a light smoke. The house was obviously wooden, with wooden floor boards, that looked old. It was dusty, as was the nightstand beside him. And the empty rocking chair beside the bed across the room. He felt the fabric beneath him, he was on a bed, he looked behind him. His thin wrists were constrained by a rope tied to bed posts as were his legs, he was sitting up his legs were tied behind him as well.
He spat the cloth out of his mouth and looked down at himself. It was as he feared, he was naked and weak, his mind went numb, and he pushed the thought out of his mind. For now all he could do was try to escape. Which seemed nearly impossible being completely tied up to the bed posts, and all. He was starting to wish that, that night had been exactly like the television shows, that he would have gone home and fallen asleep thinking about the kiss the whole time. What day was it anyways? How long had he been out for? Was someone looking for him? Was anyone even worried?
His eyes welled up with tears, he just wanted to be at home. No, he just didn't want to be here. The dim sunlight that had been shining through a nearby window with white curtains disapeared as his eyelids closed and he passed out again. He awoke, this time to hear beeping, he opened his heavy eyelids, this time no pain. He saw the worried faces of his friends and family and sat up slowly, only to be squashed by his mothers embrace as she cried onto his shoulder.
"Wh-what happened to me?" Matt asked weakly.
His mother pulled back and everyone looked at each other nervously.
"What?" He asked fightened at their reactions.
His mother turned away and ran out of the room, crying. T.K. Running out after her. Kari was the next one to turn out, then Joe and Mimi. Izzy walked out looking back one last time, Sora was last to leave. Leaving his best friend, Tai, his father and himself alone in the hospital room.
Finally his father spoke. "Matt..you.." He paused, took a deep and continued. "You were.. You were raped" He finished.
Matt stared at him wide eyed, he knew that, he could feel it. He didn't want to accept it, his eyes welled up with tears again as he tried to blink them away this time his father hugged him. "Shh.. your safe now" he told his son. "Just rest for now"
The next time he woke up he was one his bed. Looking into his friends worried eyes. "Tai?" he called out weakly.
"Yeah?" Tai replied, in a worried tone.
"What day is it?" Matt asked.
"Tuesday" He answered.
"How long has it been?" Matt asked next.
"A week and two days, are you okay?" Tai asked him softly, stroking his hair.
Matt tensed up at the movment towards him, then relaxed again. "I'm fine." He replied.
Tai sighed and took step back, ready to leave. Matt reached out and gripped his shirt. Tai looked back at Matt with a softened expression. "Do you.. want me to stay?"
He turned around without letting go of Tais shirt, and Tai pulled a chair up to the bed and sat beside him. Running his finger through Matts blonde hair and squeezed his trembling hand.
The two stayed there until they both fell asleep and Matt awoke the next morning to find Tai still by his side. "Don't you have school?" He asked.
"Not unless you're coming with me" Tai replied. "We all miss you man, it doesn't feel right missing a friend like you to tease."
Matt smiled, for the first time in a week. "Hey, what do you mean 'to tease'!" He asked.
Tai laughed at his reaction. "So, are you going to come with me or do I have to stay with you at your bed all day?"
Matt sighed, and smiled again. "I'll go with you, are you sure it won't be awkward though?" He asked.
"I never said it wouldn't be." Tai reminded him. "I'll be there for you though, don't worry. I got your back" Tai could actually be reliable sometimes. When he wanted to be.
They walked together to school avoiding the alleys that Matt had walked in. They were greeted by a bunch of worried friends and classmates upon arriving. It didn't seem as though anyone besides his friends knew about what had happened, so it was a fairly normal day besides a few "What happened?" And "Welcome back"'s from classmates and teachers.
At the end of the day he walked back home, Tai not leaving his side. "I can walk on my own you know." He said decideing he would be stubborn. Inside he hoped that Tai would know that he was just pretending and he really did want Tai to walk with him. He was very paranoid but having a friend there with him helped a lot.
"Yeah right. You don't have to pretend." Tai replied turning to give him a reassuring smile.
He was happy right now, he wasn't like he was before. He trusted his friend a lot more then he did back when he was a digi destined. Tai knew him a lot better then before as well after one night where they went to a party and Matt got dragged into a drinking competition and ended up drunk. He wasn't sure exactly what he said but Tai knew him better after that, and he didn't ever use it against him. Even when they had fights. Tai had matured a lot, even if he didn't act like it sometimes.
"Thank you." Matt mumbled, embarrased at what he was saying.
"No problem, man." Tai replied.
They arrived back at Matts house, his dad as busy as ever, wasn't home as usual. So they sat down and after half an hour of Television Matt got up to make dinner. He made them both fried rice and they sat down to eat. It was quiet and kind of boring. Finally Tai broke the silence. "So, are you going to be all right? Do you remember anything? Do you want me to go with you everywhere from now on?" Tai's curiosity and need to protect others got the better of him.
Matt was a bit offended. "Of course I'll be alright! I'm not weak, I can handle myself!" He shouted.
"Chill! I'm just worried about you, no need to get angry at me!" Tai snapped back.
"You don't have to treat me like a hurt child!" Matt said, letting his anger control him. He threw the first punch.
"Whoa! What was that for!?" Tai asked.
He didn't realize that his eyes were filled with tears. He didn't want to remember, he didn't want the memories to come back. Those bad memories would trigger more, and then it'd become too much to handle and he'd only be hurt. He was afraid of that. He threw another punch, this time landing a blow on Tais face. Their fights always started over something that normal people wouldn't have a fist fight over.
Tai took a step back and rubbed his face in shock. Then he raised a fist to fight back, before making contact he realized how bright Matts eyes were with tears and stopped himself taking a step back "What's wrong? Did I say something stupid again?" He asked in a worried tone.
Matt took a step back looking up released the tears that he was holding in "Stupid! Stupid!" His voice cracked. "You always say something stupid! Always!" He was asking himself why he was acting like a girl. That wasn't like him, not on the outside anyways.
He was stunned at Matts reaction to him. He felt like holding him close and telling him it would be okay, he felt like running his fingers through Matts golden hair and whispering lullabys into his ear. He felt like calming Matts trembling body. But Matt didn't feel any affection towards him, that was obvious, he was too afraid to say anything before. Still.. the temptation was overwhelming. He was so close, so sad, so dear, so cute, so.. so.. everything.
Tai reached his hand out and gently pushed him back against the wall, holding his arm against the wall and placing his knee between his trembling legs so that he couldn't move away. Matt sobbed. "Shh.. it's okay now.." Tai whispered in his ear.
Matt tried to move to push him away, he failed, however. Tai moved his face in closer and finally kissed Matt. It was different then the play though, there was more feeling behind it and more.. tongue? Matt was absolutely shocked. He didn't know how to react to this so he just stood there, nearly collapsing from his already weak legs.
Tai allowed them both to slide slowly to the ground, he moved his hand slowly and unbottoned Matts shirt with one hand, using the other to keep him against the wall. He reached his hand into Matts shirt feeling around his chest, without breaking the kiss.
The door opened so Tai broke it off quickly, rising and pulling Matt up before his dad noticed anything had happened.
Matt snapped back and stared at both his father and Tai. His head was clouded with confusion, and doubt. Why did Tai.. Why did Tai kiss him? Now. Like that. Why? He asked himself. "Is something wrong?" His father asked.
Matt shoke his head. "No, nothing. I just.. had something in my eye." He replied as he walked out, Tai following behind him, leaving his his father with a very worried expression on his face.
The two walked for half an hour until they reached an abandoned park and Matt turned around "What the hell was that for!?" Matt yelled.
Tai looked down.. then to the right, then down again, then he looked Matt in the eyes. "Because I love you." He replied, boldly.
Matt stared at him, wide eyed. He couldn't believe it. His best friend, his former rival, loved. Him? He had to be hearing him wrong. "What?" He asked, bewildered.
"You didn't hear wrong. I-love-you-Matt." He replied, pausing between each word.
Matt eyes widened more. He looked down trying not to make eye contact with Tai. His face was beat red, he could feel it. Tai tilted his chin upwards. "I'm going to kiss you. If you'll return my feelings don't fight me." Tai told him.
And so he did. And Matt, didn't fight back. Somewhere inside he had locked that feeling away. A long time ago. Back to the times where they were the digi destined, back when he was that lonely little boy that pushed everyone away, back when he denied all his feelings. Way back when he first got to know Tai. Way back when he first fell in back. Way back when he forgot his first kiss, with Tai, and all those feelings of love he felt so strongly again now. Those feelings he wouldn't forget again.