This was the plot twist chapter. So many things happened before I knew what was going on. I was like: "Since when was it like this?!" Everyone in my family that read it was like: "O.O Wow..." Anyway, be ready to be surprised!

By the way, it has been a long time since I have been to the Los Angeles Zoo. The last time I was there was when I still lived out in California, and that was when I was little.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle.

Fourteen Days

by luv addict

Eleventh

In Which Gali Cries

"Then I'll see your face,
I know I'm finally yours.
I find everything I thought I lost before.
You call my name;
I come to you in pieces,
So you can make me whole..."
—Red, "Pieces"

Over a week has passed since Tahu drunk the love potion. I did not want this— what we had between us—to end. It was too special, too amazing, too wonderful. It was friendship, mostly, as I just realized how much I actually liked him, but it was still so perfect in every single way.

And then there was the whole Shasa issue. As infuriating as she was, she knew me well enough to know when I needed to be left alone. She had not even bothered to call for our usual hangout date. It was her way of saying that she cared.

I shook my head, jostling the brown bags full of groceries that I was carrying.

Being alone left me time to think, too much time in my opinion. I needed fun things to to with others. Fun, nonperverted things that did not give me time to think. Things like ice skating or going to an amusement park, not going grocery shopping.

I had to walk several blocks to get to e decent grocery store, seeing as I did not have a car. So, thus I was carrying two very heavy bags back to my home. Both bags were mostly filled with junk food and pop, covering my face so that I could not see where I was going.

I watched the ground that I could see, making sure that I was not going to step on anything too dangerous. The people— the ones that were out, that is— watched out for me. Except one person.

"Hey!" I cried when I was bumped into, loosing one of the bags. "Watch it."

"Sorry." the person grumbled, collecting the bag and its contents before it hit the ground.

I blinked. "Tahu?"

He looked at me and my breath caught it my throat. I tried to say something, something witty or logical or an appology, but nothing cam out of my mouth.

"Here," Tahu said, grabbing both bags, "let me help."

He balanced them skillfully in his arms and I followed him back to my house.

The whole way there, neither of us said a single thing. I could only fiddle with my fingers as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

He helped me to put the stuff away, never questioning my choice of chips or pop.

I finally managed to speak, after everything was away.

"Sorry." I managed to get out. "About yesterday, I mean. Well, and today. I could not see where I was going and... well, um—"

Tahu chuckled. It was a deep rumble that made my knees week and almost caused me to shiver. I did not like how he had this effect on me.

"It was not your fault." he said, slightly amused. "Come on, I will treat you to some ice cream."

I looked at the clock on the microwave and frowned. 11:43 A.M.

"But what about lunch?" I protested, jokingly. Loving the smirk that played on his lips.

"Screw lunch."

When normal people go out to get ice cream, they would normally go Dairy Queen or Ben and Jerry's or Baskin Robbins or even McDonald's. But Tahu had a different way of getting good, cheap ice cream. He went to the zoo.

We managed to get ice cream cheaper than three dollars, a whole lot of it in fact, and find a place to sit. It was a secluded area next to the avairy.

"Spill." Tahu ordered after we sat.

So I did. I told him everything from when I first met Macku and Kotu up until last week, before he drank the potion. I told him things that only Shasa knew— things that she had forgotten, being wrapped up in her own drama.

By the time I was finished, I had only had two licks of my ice cream, my hands had gotten sticky and my eyes were red and swollen from crying.

He sat through the whole thing, listening silently to every word, every sob, every painful memory. In the end, his shirt was smothered with chocolate from my ice cream and tears, which must have been very uncomfortable for him. But he did not seem to mind one bit.

He led me to a bathroom, allowing us both to clean up and look much more presentable for society.

I looked at myself in the mirror. There were chocolate smudges on my cheeks, that we red from the amount of heat that had been brought up while I was crying. My eyes, red and puffy from irritation and dryness, were still oddly wet and innocent looking. The hiccups caught in my throat came out in pitiful sobs, srunching my face and making me look even worse than I already did.

I stood there, leaning on the sink, watching my reflection blur and churn as more tears were brought forth.

I quickly spached water on my face, cooling the heated skin and washing away tears and chocolate.

When I looked back up, my cheeks were a flushed pink, more healthy looking than anything, and my eyes were still a little red but I looked much more presentable.

"You okay, honey?" a tall, blonde woman with a southern drawl asked as she peeked in and walked over to me. "Did you and your boyfriend break up or something?"

"No." I croaked, chaking my head. "Tahu would never... we were not even going out."

"Does he not like you or something? Because, if he does not, there are better guys out there?"

It was strange how a woman I did not know seemed to care about my well-being. Maybe Tahu sent her in to check on me and to see what was taking me so long.

"No, he..." I began. "Tahu likes me. We just... it is complicated."

"Alright, if you say so, honey." she said, patting me on the back and heading back out. "Oh, and by the way, your boyfriend is waiting for you outside."

I looked up at her in the mirror. She smiled softly at me and then left.

I quickly fixed my mussied up hair and walked out to find the woman gone and Tahu standing there with a cold water bottle. He held it out to me, his face unreadable.

His shirt was wet, but there was no more chocolate or tears. It just looked like I had playfully thrown water from a water bottle at him.

"Sorry about your shirt." I said timidly, twisting the bottle open. I carefully took a sip and then twisted the cap back on. Tahu put it in one of the many, large pockets in him pants.

He shrugged and we walked around, visiting various animals that intruigued us. It was all the same, familiar animals that I had seen here when I was younger, with one or two additions and subtractions.

"Dolphins." I said, pointing. It felt childish, but I have always loved the dolphins. I envied them for their grace and beauty in the water. I had taken several swimming classes over the years to try to be like them.

It was fairly crowded and loud. Children squealed in excitement, their parents not shushing them. People pushed and shoved as they waited to be let in. I was elbowed and stepped on several times.

Tahu, eventually tired of seeing people rudely bump and bruise me, wrapped an arm around my stomach, pulling my back into his chest. While is was supposed to be protective, it was rather embarrassing. Not embarrassing like a way a parent would embarrass their child, but more that I will faint if anyone says something about how cute we look together.

I hid my face beneath a curtain of hair, hoping no one would say anything and trying not to think about how hard and warm Tahu's chest was. My face was growing warmer by the second.

We slowly made our way up to the door, but we were told that the seating for the dolphin show was filled and that we would have to wait for the next one.

I leaned against the closed door and talked shyly with Tahu. It was about small things, like what the animals we had seen did while we watched and about things that either of us wanted to see still.

Someone bumped Tahu, knocking him against me. He was able to stop himself before I got hurt.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a low voice that made my knees weak. I nodded dumbly, not trust my voice. And it happened.

He lowered his head down to mine, and eventually his lips brushed my cheek and then my lips. It was a soft kiss, comforting and gentle. It was not forceful like other kisses I had received from guys before. Tahu would never force anything from me. I was lulled into a state of vulnerability.

It was not a perfect kiss, his lips were chapped and it was a tad sloppy, but it was what I needed, what I had craved for.

Then I realized what had happened. I had kissed Tahu. In a few days, the kiss will mean nothing to him and everything to me. We probably would never be like this again.

I pulled away, understanding now what Shasa was trying to protect me from, and I ran. I ran home. I knew that Tahu had called after me, but I had not stopped. I had seen the pain in his eyes when I pulled away. Shasa was right, she was always right.

She played her part as Aphrodite well in my twisted story of Cupid and Psyche, but I knew, that unlike their happy ending, mine was never to be. Psyche was going to die and stay dead. Cupid was not going to save her. She was not going to drink the ambrosia that saved her in the happily ever after.

I was sobbing, gasping for air, and wiping tears from my eyes when I picked up my cordless phone. I dialed Shasa's number and waited.

"Pick up." I pleaded. "Pick up. Pick up!"

"Hi, this is Shasa's cell. I am, like, not able to answer the phone right now, so please leave your name and number, and, um, I will try to call you back."

Damn, her voice mail.

I called her house phone.

"Hello?" she asked groggily. She had been drinking. I did not care.

"You knew." I seethed. "You knew the whole time. I bet you set Macku and Kotu up, and then sent Tahu over to drink the potion."

Her line was silent for several minutes, only increasing my anger towards her.

"I am sorry." she said quietly. "I only meant to help. I... I wanted to you have Thok, but... Tahu just happened to be there. He was an acident."

Lies. Lies! Lies!

"Gali belive me, I wanted you to be happy. I never meant for any of this to happen. You know how I feel about outfielders and you know I only want what is best for you. Please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive." I said. I looked down at my phone and clicked the 'end' button, hanging up.

Everything was all a set up. One of Shasa's schemes gone horribly wrong.

The phone rang several times. Shasa and Tahu were both calling, both were upset and wanted to talk to me. I did not want to talk to Shasa but I simply could not face Tahu for a while.

I unplugged all of the phones in the house and turned off my cell phone, and I got started on what little homework I had.

Halfway through, I got frustrated and went to look for a dictionary, or anything else that would help me with the impossible words.

I found the family dictionary in my older brother's room, burried under clothes and a few CDs. One CD, in particular, caught my eye. It had clouds and a waxing moon crescent. The band's name I recognized imediatly. Coheed and Cambria.

I brought it into my room, placed in in my CD player and pushed play.

Yes, that is the end of this chapter. I did not decide to just stop halfway through the chapter and

Anyway, do not forget to review and listen to Flogging Molly. Until, tomorrow!