A/N: Your reviews fuel me! Keep them coming! I think it makes me write faster ;)

Enjoy 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or rights to any of the characters; I'm not making a profit off of this, etc.

Second Heartbeat
by: neo-chan

"Yeah, we do," Tai practically snapped. "Are you home?"

Sora sounded a bit confused at Tai's tone, but responded, "Yes."

"Good. I'll be there in ten minutes."

Without waiting for a response, Tai ended the call. When he looked up, Yamato was frowning at him in what looked like disapproval.

"What?" Tai asked defensively.

Yamato just shook his head.

Tai let out a frustrated growl, then began walking to the front door. Yamato followed after a moment, and stood with his arms folded while Tai put on his shoes.

"I'm going to Sora's," Tai muttered for formality's sake. "I'll be back."

Yamato didn't say a word, and Tai bent to kiss him but Yamato put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Don't touch me, Tai," he said firmly, shaking his head.

Tai fought back the urge to curse wildly and, instead, left the house wordlessly.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Tai took a small detour on the way to Sora's house, knowing he was too irritated to talk to her without letting himself cool down a bit first. His cell phone's text message alert went off but he ignored it, trying to focus on only two things; driving and calming down.

When he finally got to Sora's, he parked the car on the side of the street and then checked his phone. He was surprised to see that the text message was from Yamato, and even more surprised at what it said: 'Call me when you get to Sora's.'

Tai dialed Yamato's number immediately, and the phone was answered on the second ring.

"Hey."

"Hey," Tai said cautiously. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you got there okay… you drive like a maniac when you're pissed off."

Tai couldn't help but smile, despite his not-so-great mood. This was why he loved Yamato- because he honestly cared about him, no matter what the situation was. Sora was like that too, but… well, Sora was like that with everyone. She was just an all-around nice, sweet girl. It probably should've made Tai more attracted to her, but… well, it didn't. It wasn't that he wanted her to be more like Yamato, it was just… well, no, maybe he did.

But that wasn't what he should be concerning himself with at that second.

"I love you, Yama," he said, still smiling to himself.

Yamato let out a defeated sigh. "I love you too… you're just an insensitive bastard sometimes. Be nice to Sora."

"For you, sweetheart? Anything."

"Tai, I'm serious." By Yamato's tone, Tai could tell that the blonde still wasn't too pleased with him.

"I'll try," Tai said. "I can't promise I'll succeed, but I'll try."

"Tai…" Yamato sighed again, then murmured, "why is she with you?"

Tai frowned. "What, now you're saying I'm a bad boyfriend?"

Upon Yamato's silence, Tai's frown deepened.

"Whatever," he muttered, then hung up.

Tai sat in his car for a few more moments, trying to calm himself down yet again. He couldn't help being pissed, though- not only was Sora blaming him for stuff that wasn't his fault, but now she'd managed to get Yamato pissed at him too? That was just too much.

Taking in a deep breath and then letting it out, Tai opened his car door and finally walked up to Sora's door. He thought he'd managed to get a hold of himself but when the door opened and he came face-to-face with her, the irritation flared up inside of him again.

Sora gave him a tentative smile. "Hi."

Be nice, Tai reminded himself. …or at least civil.

"Hi," he responded, and he was proud when it came out sounding half-pleasant.

Sora gestured for him to come in and Tai did, kicking off his shoes and heading into the living room with his hands shoved in his pockets. He sat down on the couch- more like slumped down, really- and waited for Sora to say something… because he didn't know what to say without sounding "mean".

"So," Sora said, upon realizing that Tai wasn't going to start the conversation, "um… I was really happy with what we did for our anniversary. I mean… that was probably the most thoughtful thing you've ever done."

Sora paused, and when Tai made no move to say anything, she continued.

"I loved the flowers, I loved dinner, and I especially loved that you remembered that I wanted to see Phantom of the Opera… but…" Sora bit her lip slightly, subconsciously wringing her hands. "I just think that… well…" She met Tai's eyes. "I think we made a mistake."

"Yeah?" Tai's voice lacked emotion.

Sora frowned a little at Tai's lack of interest, but went on anyway. "Tai… you know that I believe in being a virgin before marriage."

"Uh-huh."

"And… well, obviously we're not married."

"No shit."

Sora stared at Tai in shock and disbelief. "Tai, I'm trying to talk to you about something. Can you not be so… insensitive?"

"Why the fuck is everyone calling me insensitive?" Tai exclaimed. "And why the hell should I listen to your stupid crap when I already know that you regret having sex with me?"

Sora's eyes widened- half from hurt and half from shock. "Who… who told you that?" she nearly whispered.

"Does it fucking matter? The bottom line is, you didn't do it because you wanted to- you did it because you were trying to win me over or some stupid shit like that. Well, I guess your plan didn't work out so well, 'cause I know all about it!"

Sora's face was flushed, and she was speechless for a moment before speaking in a hurt tone.

"Mimi told you?"

"No, Matt told me."

"What?" Sora looked shocked.

"Yeah, your secret's out. And if you think I'm going to feel guilty or some shit like that, you're wrong. I didn't fucking ask you to have sex with me- you're the one who offered."

Sora shook her head in disbelief. "I didn't do it for pleasure-"

"Yeah, so I've heard," Tai muttered, cutting her off.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have felt like I had to do that if you hadn't made me feel like I had to compete with your best friend for your affection!" Sora exclaimed angrily.

"Don't fucking give me that! You know that's the way things are, and they're not changing so deal with it! If you can't deal with it, then just fucking say so!"

"Well, I can't!" There were tears in Sora's eyes. "It's not fair to me, don't you realize that? I thought maybe one day you would understand! You have no idea what I put up with from you, Tai! Every day I have to convince myself that I actually mean something to you! That's not the way a relationship is supposed to be!"

"It's not my fault that you don't believe I care about you! Fuck, if I didn't care about you I'd be out screwing someone else right now! If I didn't care about you, would I have done all that for our anniversary just to make you happy? Would I do any of the things that I do for you?"

"All you have to do to make me happy is stop doing things with Yamato!"

"I'm not going to stop 'doing things' with Yamato!"

"Why?"

"Because it has nothing to do with you!"

"Yes, it does!" Sora cried, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "It has everything to do with me! I can't feel like you love me if you're with someone else too!"

"I'm not with him-"

"Yes, you are, whether you admit it or not! I don't want to be the second person you kiss every day- I want to be the only person you kiss!"

"Fuck, I give up!" Tai growled in frustration. "If you can't deal, this can't work. So can you deal with it or not?"

"I can't," Sora sobbed, tears flowing freely down her face.

"Then it's over." Tai stood, clenching his fists, and walked out of the room. The sound of the front door slamming shut emphasized his words.

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Still wiping away tears, Sora shakily picked up the phone and dialed her best friend's number. How could Mimi betray her like that? How could she go and tell Yamato, of all people? Sora was hurt, angry, and embarrassed… but mostly hurt.

"Hey, sweetheart," Mimi answered the phone cheerfully. "How are y-"

"How could you, Mimi?" Sora choked out. "How could you when you promised you wouldn't?"

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "Oh, Sora, I'm sorry-"

"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone! You promised!"

"I know-"

"And you told the one person I never wanted to find out; the person that this whole issue revolves around!"

"Sora-"

"It was horrible, Mimi!" Sora sobbed, completely abandoning her anger at her friend. "Tai came over and I tried to talk to him, and he wouldn't listen, and he acted like I was a terrible person… and now it's over, and it's not fair!"

"Wait… what? What's over?"

"Us! He said that if I couldn't 'deal with it', it was over… so now it's over!"

"Wait a minute. Tai broke up with you?" Mimi sounded shocked.

Sora's sobs confirmed the question.

Mimi was speechless. Tai had broken up with Sora? If anything, it should've been the other way around!

Mimi was officially pissed.

"He broke up with you?" Mimi voiced her thoughts aloud angrily. "What right does he have to break up with you? He's the one doing something wrong! How dare he?"

"I knew it was stupid, Mimi," Sora sniffled. "Why did I do it? Now everything's ruined, and Tai doesn't even want me anymore…"

"Tai doesn't deserve you, Sora," Mimi said firmly. "I never thought he'd stoop so low. You gave him your virginity and all he can say is that you shouldn't be complaining about him and Yamato?"

"It was a stupid idea, though-"

"Even if it was, he has no right to treat you this way! No girl deserves to be treated like this! Ugh, I've got half a mind to go and kick his ass right now!"

"Mimi, don't… it's between me and Tai- or, at least, it was…"

"You know what? You're coming over tonight," Mimi declared, "and we are going to have the best girls' night ever! You're going to tell me every single detail of what happened, and then every time you so much as think about Tai, I want you to shove a handful of popcorn into your mouth."

That at least earned a small laugh out of Sora.

"I'm serious," Mimi insisted. "I'm coming to pick you up in half an hour. Be ready, okay?"

"Okay," Sora said with one last sniffle. "Bye, Mimi."

"See you in half an hour. Bye."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Two seconds after Mimi hung up with Sora, she picked up the phone again and dialed Yamato's number. Apparently the blonde hadn't understood what she'd meant when she said "don't tell anyone".

"Hello?" came Yamato's voice.

"You told Tai what I told you?" Mimi exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"I told you not to tell anyone!"

"No, you told me not to tell Sora. Besides, Tai would've thought nothing was wrong if I didn't tell him."

"Well, at least he wouldn't have gone and said horrible things to Sora and then broken up with her!"

"He broke up with her?" Yamato sounded shocked.

"What, he didn't tell you?"

"No! The last time I spoke to him, he was outside Sora's house!"

"Well, he broke up with her! And he was a complete bastard about it, from what I gather. I'm going to pick Sora up, and I'm not sure I even want to hear the entire story because I'm already so mad at Tai!"

"Believe me, I know what you mean." Yamato sighed. "I'm so… ugh, I don't know… disappointed in him. He's acting like such an ass about this whole situation!"

"I know! Someone has to talk some sense into him. And by someone, I mean you."

"I already tried that. That's how I ended up telling him what you told me in the first place, and he only got more pissed off at Sora."

"He doesn't even have a reason to be mad at her in the first place!"

"I know, but he is!"

"Well, you have to try to talk to him again," Mimi insisted, "because if you don't, I'm going to and it won't be pretty."

"I don't even know if he'll listen to me right now," Yamato said. "He thinks I called him a bad boyfriend, which I'm sure he's not too happy about. I mean, he's definitely not a good boyfriend, but calling him a bad one might be a bit out of line-"

"No, he is a bad boyfriend."

"Well, in his eyes he isn't because he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong."

"Well, he is doing something wrong! And I don't care what the situation is, there's no excuse in the world to treat Sora the way he's treating her. Honestly, you're too easy on him. Don't let him think that he's got you wrapped around his finger too."

"He doesn't have me wrapped around his finger," Yamato insisted.

"Then go talk some sense into him! Tai's so out of line that it's ridiculous!"

"Well, I'll try to talk to him, but I can't guarantee anything."

"And I'll try to comfort Sora. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Mimi hung up and shook her head, then headed for the door.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

After driving around aimlessly to let off some steam, Tai ended up back at Yamato's house. He trudged up to the front door and hesitated before ringing the doorbell. Yamato hadn't sounded too happy when they'd spoken on the phone… he probably didn't even want to see Tai for the rest of the day.

…well, too bad, because Tai wanted to see him. Besides, he had to convince Yamato into not being mad at him and why wait to do it?

When Yamato answered the door, Tai greeted him with a "hey" and then leaned in for the usual kiss… only, Yamato pushed him back immediately and stared at him in disbelief.

"Are you seriously trying to kiss me right now?" he asked in awe.

"Um, yeah." Tai gave Yamato a strange look. "Why not?"

Yamato shook his head slowly. "…what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Well, apparently I'm a bad boyfriend," Tai half-joked.

"You know what, Tai? Maybe you are. I've tried to defend you, but it's pointless because there's nothing to defend anymore!" Yamato let out a humourless laugh. "I can't believe you!"

"Yama, what the hell? I didn't do anything to you-"

"It's not about me, it's about Sora!"

"Sora doesn't even matter anymore, I broke up with her!"

"I know you broke up with her, and yes, she does matter! Why are you being such an asshole?"

"How am I being an asshole?"

"Are you kidding? You broke up with Sora and she didn't even do anything!"

"She was being stupid!"

"Not wanting your boyfriend to kiss someone else is being stupid?"

"When the someone else is you, then yeah!"

"That is so messed up!" Yamato exclaimed. "How is it different just because it's me?"

"Because you're my best friend!"

"So? Do other people make out regularly with their best friends?"

"It doesn't matter what other people do!"

"Ugh! You're impossible!" Yamato cried in frustration, throwing his hands up in the air.

"You're the one who's acting like you've been a saint all along! You didn't seem to care so much about Sora a couple of days ago!"

"Well, at least I'm acknowledging the fact that I did something wrong!"

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, I didn't do anything wrong. Sora knew what she was getting into all along, and it's her problem if she can't handle it. She should've said something earlier!"

Yamato groaned, running his hands over his face. "Fuck, this is getting nowhere…"

"Exactly, so there's no point in fighting over it!"

Yamato sighed, looked away, shook his head, and then sighed again.

"You're so fucking frustrating."

"Well, I'm sorry."

"No you're not."

"Yeah, I'm sorry you're all frustrated and stuff. I don't give a shit if Sora is."

"Tai."

"What? I don't."

Yamato gave Tai an exasperated look. "You're lucky I've given up on yelling at you."

"I know. Now, can I come in? 'Cause standing in your doorway is fun and all, but I think sitting on a couch would be even more fun."

Yamato stepped aside and Tai entered the house, speaking again as he did so.

"How did you know I broke up with Sora anyway?"

"Mimi told me," Yamato said, closing the door behind the brown-haired boy.

"Man, word travels fast," Tai said with a laugh, taking off his shoes and then walking with Yamato to the den. "So Sora told Mimi and Mimi told you already?"

"Yeah… and you should probably watch out, Mimi wants to have a talk with you."

"A talk? So I'm guessing you mean she's pissed."

"Everyone's pissed, Tai. That should be a hint to you."

Tai rolled his eyes and sat down. "Give it a rest already, Yama."

"I just can't understand what the hell happened," Yamato said as he sat down beside Tai. "How did things go so wrong so quickly? I mean, you seemed perfectly happy with Sora until all of this happened…"

"I was happy until you told me about her stupid fucking plan!" Tai exploded. "I thought I was finally making progress! I thought that her having sex with me meant that she finally believed that I cared about her! But obviously I was wrong because it was all just a fucking ploy to try and separate me from you, and there's no way I'm going to be in a relationship with someone who can't even trust that I care about them!"

Tai looked away from Yamato at that point, falling silent, and Yamato felt relief wash over him. It was nice to know that Tai actually had a reason for breaking up with Sora and he wasn't just being an asshole for the hell of it. Sure, he didn't have the best reason, but it was still a reason and that was all Yamato cared about.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Yamato asked, moving over to his friend and wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "You had me thinking you'd turned into a heartless bastard who went around breaking girls' hearts for no reason."

"I didn't tell you 'cause I don't want to talk about it," Tai said plainly.

"Why not?"

"Because it's stupid and frustrating, and it's not like talking is going to do anything about it. Besides," Tai added, shifting and tugging Yamato into his lap, "I don't want to talk about her while I'm with you. It just ruins my happiness."

Yamato didn't know what to say to that, so he just nodded. Tai smiled a little bit, then threaded his fingers through Yamato's hair and pulled him in for a soft kiss. Their lips separated and met again repeatedly for several minutes, and the kisses were still so soft that Yamato would have interpreted them as innocent had it not been for the way Tai's hands were slowly advancing. They'd started at Yamato's hips and had crept down to his thighs, lingering there for some time and now they were slowly dipping between his legs…

At the sound of a throat clearing, Tai's hands immediately flew back up to Yamato's hips and he broke the kiss, smiling guiltlessly at the person standing there.

"Hi, Mr. Ishida," he said innocently.

"Hi, Dad," Yamato added. "When did you get home?"

Mr. Ishida gave Tai a wary look, then answered his son's question. "Just now. I'm going to need you to set up the pull-out bed for your brother sometime tonight… preferably before he gets here."

Yamato nodded. "Okay. He's coming around ten, right?"

"Right. I'm going to call your mother to confirm, though."

"Okay."

Mr. Ishida headed upstairs, and Tai spoke.

"T.K.'s coming over?"

"Yeah, my mom's going on some trip for a couple days so he's going to be staying here. It's a shorter walk from here to the high school anyway."

Tai nodded. "Cool."

"Yeah." Yamato stood up. "Help me pull out the couch."

"Right now?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Because."

Yamato was about to ask "Because of what?" when Tai pulled Yamato back down into his lap and kissed him again. Once Tai's lips were on his, Yamato could easily see why pulling out the bed at that moment wasn't necessary.

Between kisses, Tai's hands quickly made their way back to their previous location, working at the zipper and button on Yamato's jeans. Upon succeeding, Tai slid a hand into the front of Yamato's pants, stroking the boy in a way that left Yamato arching up into his touch.

"Ahem."

Both boys jumped, startled, and flushed when they saw Yamato's father standing yet again in front of them.

"I'm going to ignore the fact that your hand is down my son's pants," Mr. Ishida said calmly to Tai, then turned to Yamato. "Your mother can't drive T.K. here anymore, so we'll have to pick him up. I suppose you could take the car."

"We can use my car to pick him up," Tai offered while wondering inwardly if he was supposed to be taking his hand out of Yamato's pants or not.

"Yeah, we'll take Tai's car," Yamato said with a nod, then added pointedly, "Bye, Dad."

Mr. Ishida shook his head, but turned and disappeared back upstairs.

"Well, I get the feeling he won't be coming back down for a while," Tai remarked sheepishly.

Yamato couldn't help but laugh. "You're an idiot," he said, smiling.

Tai just shrugged, and the boys picked up where they'd left off.

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