Hey guys, once again thank you so much for the postive feedback! ^^ It really encouraged me alot! So anyway here is the next chapter. Hope you guys will like it. Oh and remember to review and tell me what you guys think.. :)
Chapter 4
"Alright guys, see you on Thursday." The blonde lead singer had just finished practicing their new songs, and decided to call it day. He walked outside on the road ahead of him with his guitar swung around his shoulder. He glanced down on his watch and saw that it was 7:24 p.m.
"Might as well go and check up on Sora."
He hadn't called or heard from her last night, when he had carried her upstairs to her room, when he had to drive both her and Tai home from the club. He couldn't get her out of his head; no matter how hard he tried. Her tears, which ran down her cheeks and her sad face, made him worry for her. So he decided that he might as well visit her. Based on the time, he concluded that she might still be over at her mother's flower shop, as it was closing time for all shops. He reached there in less than 15 minutes and opened the front door. Coming inside where he couldn't see Sora anywhere, but spotted Mrs. Takenouchi, placing some plants inside the shop.
"Hello Mrs. T."
Mrs. Takenouchi looked up, and smiled at the younger blonde and greeted him. "Ah, hello Matt, what a pleasant surprise!"
She smiled and already knew why he has there so late in the evening. "We're closing now, although I'm sure that you already knew that, hmm?" She smiled at him. "Let me just call for her. Sora! Honey Matt is here to see you."
She came out the back door, carrying a box of flowers, which she placed down on the ground. "Matt? What are you doing here?"
"Hey, I've just finished my band practice, so I… I was passing by, when I thought, 'why not stop by and say hi'." Sora looked at her mom, and then at Matt.
Her mother smiled and gave her a look: "Go ahead, honey. I'm just going finish up the last things, and close the shop. Don't worry, I'll take the car with me, I'm sure that Matt would love to drop you home afterwards."
"Don't worry, Mrs. T. I will."
Sora smiled one last time at her mother, before she got her jacket and walked out of the shop with one of her best friends.
They walked in silent on the lonely road in front of them. Matt had his hands inside his pockets, and took an opportunity to look around.
Sora tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear as she spoke: "So, um, how are things going with the band?"
"Things are going pretty good actually, we're finished couple of songs, and I think we're going to record them soon."
She smiled as she heard the news. "That's nice. It's good to hear that you guys are doing well." Without them noticing, they were now close to a bench. They decided at the same time to sit down for some time. It was a beautiful evening, especially because you could see the stars up in the sky. She looked up and spoke in a soft voice: "They're beautiful, aren't they?"
He looked puzzled at her "Huh?"
She kept her gaze up into the sky and replied. "The stars."
He looked up and saw all the bright stars shone in the sky. He smiled: "Yeah... Yeah they are! I always thought about how it would be if you travel up there."
"Yeah, me too."
She turned her attention toward him and smirked.
"What?" he grinned back at her.
"You know, I could totally see you as an astronaut, I mean you were the one who took all the astronomy classes, and came out with good grades. Who knows maybe we'll see you travel up there, and sing for the aliens."
He chuckled at her imagination: "Right!"
Sora continued with: "Or even better, I could picture you as a science professor, with really big old classes and teaching bunch of students about astronomy… Kinda reminds me of Mr. Hiroki actually."
"No! Don't even try to compare me with that old man!"
She raised an eyebrow at him: "And who do you want me to compare you with?"
He smirked at her and said with a voice filled with proud: "The good looking ones of course."
She rolled her eyes at him and turned her attention back to the sky. Matt however had his eyes glued on her and tried to read her mesmerized expression as she glanced at the twinkling sky above. When she noticed his gaze, she turned to face him and felt herself being dragged into his beautiful blue eyes immediately.
She quickly lowered her gaze, snapping out of her daze: "Uh… We… Uh should probably head back now." With that she got up, but he swiftly grabbed her arm, stopping her, which made her look at him with a questioning face.
He gave a friendly smile and said: "Sit down for a moment." She did what he asked and sat down on the bench again, without a word.
"I want to talk about what happened last night."
She tensed, but she didn't know why. "Matt, I know I drank too much, and I properly said some things that I didn't even mean and I…" Before she could finish, he interrupted her.
"Shh…" She looked puzzled and didn't know what this was all about. He lowered his head a bit and took a deep breath, before he spoke in a gentle voice.
"The reason I want to talk to you, is that I realized something last night that you're not like any other ordinary girl, – You're hiding something! You're hiding the true girl inside of you… Don't, because you're so much more than that!" She looked up in shock and couldn't believe what she was hearing. He continued to speak.
"And I… Sora, I know what you're going through! I know what it's like, not to have one of your parents around!" She gave him half a smile, and looked down on the ground. Matt reached out for her hand and continued: "I know it's going to sound weird, coming from me of all people, but… I'm sure whatever your father is doing in Kyoto! He's doing it for you! And he's proud of you. He should be! I know I am!" Their eyes locked for a brief moment.
"You just need to stop worrying about him and live your life! Just remember that, cuz' you got a beautiful smile, Sor'! You just need to show it more often!" She couldn't believe what Matt had just said that to her. All the words were slowly sinking into her mind. Her face started to heat up, and she blushed at his words. She smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Thanks Matt, for being here for me! It really means a lot." He wrapped an arm around her.
"Well, I've got the crest of friendship; you gotta live up to the expectations, right?" She lightly chuckled at him.
They stayed watching the stars, just the two of them, under the stars. Sora's head still resting on his shoulder.
The next day TK came over at Matt's place to see him. He already had the key for his apartment and therefore led himself inside. Matt, who was sitting in the living room, watching TV, heard the door being opened and lifted his gaze, seeing his brother.
"Hey, TK, what's up?"
"Hey bro, nothing much, just came over here to…"
Before he could finish his sentence he took a look around the living room, and saw that the room was a big mess.
"WOAH! What happened in here?"
The older blonde frowned and replied.
"Give me a break! I haven't been much home lately, been busy with stuff."
TK gave a smile from himself, "I understand."
He walked to the kitchen where he found himself a can of soda. Matt didn't say anything, as he was used to his brother raiding his fridge. TK took a large gulp of his drink, as he glanced at the dining table and saw many papers and letters lying there. He picked one of them up where it stood: 'Matt Ishida'.
"Hey what's that?"
He looked up and panicked; as he saw what letter he was holding. He quickly snatched it from his brother's hands and laid it in his bedroom: "It's nothing, let it go!"
"Jeez, sorry I asked! I've never seen you getting angry over a letter?" What's in it anyway, a love letter? Must be very important?"
"Nothing you need to worry about."
He kept quiet for a while and looked at his big brother while he thought to himself. "Wonder what's going on with him lately". He had noticed some change around him lately, but decided to leave the matter alone before it became a huge discussion.
"Anyway, I came here to tell you we're having a picnic at the park with the others."
"Kay', I'll be there".
Later that day, they all got together at the same park, where they always attended meetings. They had spread out the blanket where they could sit. Everyone had brought delicious food from their home; however Mimi, had brought so much food that it could easily have been enough for a whole army of people.
Tai leaned over and grabbed a chicken sandwich and said in a proud voice: "As I'm the leader of this group, I will get the honor to get the biggest sandwich, HAH."
"Man that is so not fair!" Davis showed his concern for the food by furrowing his eyebrows when Tai took the first bite. Tai however ignored him with a grin.
"Too bad, Davis!"
Mimi crossed her arms and tried to knock some sense into the two boys giving them a light smack "Guys it's just food and besides you shouldn't complain. Look in front of you. There's so much to eat."
Tai stood up on his knees and waved his hands out in all directions as he tried to explain his eating issues to Mimi: "You'll never understand the relationship between a man and his food and...
Izzy quickly spoke, "Uh speak for yourself, Tai."
Everyone laughed by his comment, which made the brunette sit down, with a pouting expression, feeling he was being bullied.
Sora sat beside Matt and the petite girl couldn't help but comment on the scene in front of her: "It's so typical them." He leaned toward her and whispered lightly into her ear.
"Yeah and one of them are my best friend, can you believe that?"
She laughed at his comment, which made Tai stare at her, mesmerized: "Wait a minute, who are you? And what have you done to Sora? My Sora doesn't smile"
He had started to notice something different with Sora and her the way she acted lately. She started to smile more and really live her life to the fullest.
She rolled her eyes at his behavior. "Stupid! Of course, it's me!"
Tai, who now was on his feet, crossed his slender arms over his chest, as he took a glance around the group and finally eyed both, Matt and Sora. "Is something going on?"
They both rolled their eyes at this. Tai lifted a dramatic hand and started to count on his fingers as he spoke: "You're changed! You're happy; you're starting to look good"
"Hey!"
He chose to ignore her. "You laugh a lot, not to mention you drank a WHOLE LOT MORE at the club that day! Now tell me where is she?" He picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder.
"Tai Yagami! Put me down! Now!" After couple of swings he finally put her down where she slapped him on the arm.
"Baka!"
Everybody started to laugh at the scene in front of them. The hurt teen silently rubbed the place where Sora had hit him with a pouting face.
"What is it with you guys anyway? Is it suddenly hate-on-Tai-day today?"
"No, just stop being an idiot and sit down, so we can eat." He obediently did what his blonde friend said. Several hours later, they all finished dinner; haven eaten as much as they possibly could, however, Tai was still eating (Surprise surprise).
"Yo, guys you need to hear this."
Yolie and ken both gave a tired look: "OH NO! Here we go again".
"Davis, maybe you should just leave it alone!"
Davis cleared his throat and began to speak in a dramatic filled voice: "Friendship is like a box of chocolate. You never know how your friend turns out to be". Everyone stood shocked.
"Uh… That was…"
"…Original."
"Hey, isn't it from the movie Forrest Gump?"
"Oh yeah, it is. I swore I had heard it somewhere else."
"Now that's what you call creativity, Davis! Way to go."
He looked at Matt, who had been the last one to speak: "Then, mister know-it-all, let me hear your thoughts on friendship, as you're the holder of the crest."
Everyone sat watching the both of them. Matt smiled, and said in a cool soft voice, as if it was the easiest thing to explain.
Tai came toward the others and turned his attention to Davis.
"Do you have any idea who you're asking? Davis, you're asking the blonde 'Hot Shot' here, the guy who writes sappy love songs for a living? Of course you're gonna lose this round!"
Matt shot his best friend a glare.
"And I love you too dude."
He rolled his eyes and before he spoke. "My take on friendship is simple. The first step to love is friendship and the last step is friendship as well… It's the middle that's left. To give, to lo-" Matt's eyes darted to Sora's and momentarily the word got stuck in his throat. She was so beautiful, as she stood and watched him, awaiting his answer to the question. Tai was right, it seemed like she had got more beautiful than ever. He quickly blinked, stunned by his own thoughts and hurried to gain back his composure – practically dragging his gaze from her orbs and cleared his throat. "… And to love."
TK slipped an arm around his older brother shoulder, snapping him out of it: "Way to go, bro! HAH, beat that Davis."
He simply crossed his arms and rolled his eyes: "Whatever TJ".
"See Davis, You still got a lot to learn about friendship… and a lot of other things." Davis led his head hang down in admitted defeat where everyone stood laughing at the incident.
Suddenly TK noticed something different in Matt. Like there was a sudden tension in the air, it was like he was avoiding looking at Sora. He carried an expression which he couldn't put words on. "I wonder what's going on."
The Following night, he lay awake in his bed with his hands resting behind his neck. He couldn't sleep because he couldn't stop thinking about Sora. He already knew that he was getting too close to her, and it would only hurt her more in the end. He needed to stay as far away from her as possible. But how could he? After all, she was the one who understood him the most? She was the one his heart kept beating for.
"God, I'm so messed up!" He slowly closed his eyes and tried to sleep, and gave all his thoughts a momentarily rest.
But Matt wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep that night. Sora lay on her bed as well, thinking about the certain blonde friend. She couldn't stop thinking about all the things he had said to her:
"God Sor', you're so much fun!"
"I know! I'm too hot, right!"
"You're hiding the true girl inside of you… Don't. Because you're so much more than that."
"Just remember that, cuz' you got a beautiful smile, Sor'! You just need show it more often."
"The first step to love is friendship and the last step is friendship as well… It's the middle that's left. To give. To love."
She snapped out of her thoughts and smiled silently to herself in the dark. She couldn't help but wonder if she had fallen for Matt… for real. She thought about the way he made her feel, the way he had been there for her lately - always rescued her whenever she had a hard time coping with her mother, or never being in touch with her father. However, she was somehow afraid to tell him her real feelings for him.
"What if he doesn't like me in that way, or what if…." Different thoughts were running through her mind, so instead of letting it linger, she closed her eyes and decided to put the thoughts on hold and drift to sleep.
Alright you guys! Press the bottom and tell me what you think. ^_^
