On Your Side
"Well…I never quite knew where I stood with you," Tai muttered, his eyes avoiding hers'. When was the last time he had even spoken to her…and now this? Out of the blue? "One second everything would be perfect, and the next you would push me away."
"That's what kids do, Tai!" He couldn't help but notice the tired look in her eyes and the desperate crack in her voice. They weren't kids anymore. "We were just children," Sora's voice grew soft.
"You acted like an adult with Matt," Tai snapped. He didn't want to argue with her, but she couldn't act like the past hadn't happened.
"That was a mistake," Sora muttered. Her words in the near empty bar seemed to bring them back. Back ten years ago, when Tai and Sora's carefree life fell apart.
"What do you mean Sora's not coming!" Kairi exclaimed. They were in the hallway at the high school, just outside of Tai's homeroom. It was weird to have her attending the same school as him again, though the differences from being first and third year middle school-ers to first and third year high school-ers irked him. Especially at times like these. Kairi was far more popular than Tai ever was and, as always, she had Davis on one side and T.K on the other, making it worse for poor Tai.
He shifted his eyes at the two of them and back to Kairi. "I don't want to talk about it," Tai pouted.
His sister's eyes softened. T.K glanced away. Davis, oh Davis, had to say the worst thing possible. "What, you two broke up again?"
"Why don't you just tell the whole school!"
"The whole school probably already knows," Davis spoke far too loud then necessary, making him sound even more obnoxious. "How many times does this make it now?"
Tai puffed out his cheeks, his face red. "Five," he muttered.
Kairi sighed and ushered for her brother to follow her, "Come on, let's go talk somewhere private." He felt a bit better, he didn't mind that "private" still included both T.K and Davis as they headed up to the roof.
Through all three years of high school Tai and Sora had dated on and off. She broke up with him every time, usually for some reason that was far to cryptic to understand. The mind of girls never made any sense to him. The problem was that they were getting close to graduation, Tai was (to his surprise) going to college soon and so was she. If they were going to stay together, they couldn't keep doing this.
The four of them started up the stairs. Davis got a big smile on his face. "Hey, maybe she's got somebody else!" He teased, punching Tai in the arm as Kairi started opening the door to the roof.
"Hey, that's not even funny kid!" Still, Tai smiled as he caught the boy in a headlock. He glanced up as the light from the outside seeped into the room. His smiled faded.
His best friend? Matt…with her?
They broke apart and saw him.
Kairi and T.K's awkward and embarrassed looks seemed to fade out. He barely noticed Davis slowly pulling himself out from under his arm with his mouth hanging open. All he could see were her eyes, blue, embarrassed, angry, cold, and yearning.
It didn't even matter that it was Matt, not at that moment. She was trying to get back at him for something that he didn't even know he did.
His brow furrowed, his eyes grew hard and angry.
No words were said, Tai simply turned and stalked down the stairs.
Sora knew the plan was stupid from the beginning but at that point she was at, she didn't care. They had been together for three years, they were going to graduate and start their life's, but Tai hadn't done anything to assure her they'd have something, that they would grow too.
She argued with him about the universities they applied for. It wasn't that she didn't want him to go where he wanted to, nor that she thought they had to go to the same place. It was because the whole thing frustrated her.
The idea wasn't a bad one at first, Sora wanted to find a way to make him realize how much he cared about her. She formulated her plan one night as she lay in bed.
Two ideas then spawned off of that, the first…Sora blushed and hid her face in her pillow. She couldn't do that, not yet. The second, while less appealing, was more practical. Make him jealous.
Everything spiraled from there. She kept thinking in the back of her mind that she was going too far. Sora knew she had when she kissed Matt. The three of them were best friends, and she was destroying that for some stupid manipulative purpose?
Sora thought about going to him and apologizing as soon as she saw Tai, but when she found him he was talking with T.K. The first year was apologizing for his brother, it seemed like both of them knew about her plan. She couldn't have that, him knowing the reason, it would be like losing.
So she kept at it. Sora found that she liked Matt, not as much as Tai, but he was charming and honest. He had changed a lot since they were little. He liked her, and she felt bad for not feeling it the same way back.
All of sudden things moved fast, where she didn't want, but let it, go.
All of a sudden, she was pregnant.
It was a month until graduation. Matt had decided to go to the school she was going to go, even though better schools accepted him. Tai wasn't speaking to either of them. Now she couldn't even go back, no matter how much she wanted to.
"Why did you come here?" Tai asked. Sora looked up from her glass, expecting him to be angry. He was smiling, the same stupid smile he wore two years ago at the Digi-Destined reunion, the same he wore ten years ago as they prepared for entrance exams, the same stupid smile he wore eighteen years ago when they were lost in the dig world, always seemingly fighting for their lives in one way or another.
Tai always had that smile. A smile, that always made her smile back.
"Why did you?" She asked back.
Tai shrugged, "who knows?" He cast her a sly look.
Sora rolled her eyes. "You're so stupid, Tai."
"Can't you see what you started?" Tai let out an over dramatic sigh. "T.K is my brother-in-law you know."
"He once was mine too, it'll be less confusing for the kids that way."
"I think that's more confusing," Tai laughed.
"And how is that funny?" Sora asked, laughing along with him.
"Well," Again, his words took them back. Reminding her of a time nearly eighteen years ago, so different and yet so similar.
Sora had tried to act strong, she was the tough one, not weak like Mimi. But she was scared, the new, foreign world was terrifying. There was a monster around every corner. Sora hid, covering her ears, crouched in the bushes, wanting for it to all disappear.
"Hey, Sora?" Tai brushed away the branches, crouching down next to her. "C'mon it's safer if we all stick together." He smiled a stupid smile.
A small smile spread on her lips. She nodded and let him help her up. "You better not tell anyone okay?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" Tai nodded and started off down a path.
"Wait! Do you know where you're going?" Sora called after him.
"It doesn't matter where the path leads," Tai spoke with determination as he held out his hand to her, "where we're going we don't need anything, right?"
Sora smiled and took his hand. "I suppose."
They found their way back eventually, hand in hand.
A/N: :D I'm so happy to write Digimon! :D So the Sora and Matt thing was based off that picture of the gang from the first and second seasons, grown up. Sora's kid looks like Matt, and Matt's looks like Sora...but Come on! TaiXSora! So, it's kinda also based off of the Thriving Ivory song "On You're Side"
Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D
