Author's Note: I suck. I'm a terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE person who leaves semi-cliffhangers and then doesn't update for an OBSCENE amount of time. This story is SO important to me, I promise. But I'm lazy. And I have a short attention span, writing wise. Love to do it but only can in small doses. You guys are amazing, amazing reviewers that have put up with updates that a dead snail could update with faster. So, to make up for that, this chapter has a good few pages on the length of most of my chapters. I think it's a good chapter, but the next few chapters should sizzle. Sadly, I think this story has about five more chapters of life left in it. Of course, I could be wrong. With me, I never know.

So I hope some of you guys are still reading this. Since it's been so long, here's a brief recap: Kari and TK dated, until she slowly began to fall for Matt. She went to his concert, was sick, passed out, they kissed, kissed again and dun dun, someone caught them.

So here it is. It's pretty much expired, how overdue it is. But um, better … way way way late than never? Right?

Also!! I'm not sure who it was, but someone nominated me for some Digimon fan fiction award? Whoever it was, thank you so much! It was the categories best drama and best romance. It was a surprise to see that, haha, but sooo flattering! Go vote me up! ;) freewebs . com /digimon-fanfiction-awards/about it. I will try my DAMNDEST to get the next chapter up ASAP. God knows I owe you all that much.

That day, the world as Yamato Ishida knew it, ended.

Well, not quite. But that's how he had felt when Mimi had opened the door only to see him kissing Kari. Both him and Kari had gone completely limp, immobile. Incapable of speech, movement, even thought-- except for one: Shit.

"Mimi--" Kari gasped, trying to find something else to say, a means of explanation to offer but coming up with nothing. Her sentence fell short after Mimi's name and after that, she remained silent. Nothing she could possibly say or do would make this any better.

Matt's mind finally regained circulation and his thoughts went absolutely haywire. The most prominent thought was 'Tai is going to fucking kill me dead. And then beat my corpse. With my fucking guitar. I'm screwed.' Which was a shameful thing to admit, but he didn't have to actually admit it, so that was okay.

... That was okay? He had not just thought that. They were standing there - him, Kari, Mimi - in possibly the world's most awkward, deranged situation and he was thinking 'hey, I don't have to admit things, so it's okay'? He was severely screwed up. But maybe if he kept thinking he'd get so screwed up that this situation would magically melt away. It didn't seem possible. He tried for a brief moment. He was still there. Mimi was still there. Kari was still there. It definitely had not been possible and sadly, it wasn't even worth the shot.

"You guys-- Omigod, Kari, your crush? Who I knew but you couldn't say? Is this why you and TK broke up? Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Mimi was practically having palpitations, Kari looked absolutely stricken and it was that look on Kari's face that coaxed the lion out of Matt and made him step forward, despite the lack of feeling in his legs. He wanted Kari to... well, not look so stricken, so he struggled to find some sort of defense, some sort of way to lessen the weirdness.

"Mimi," he said quietly, his tone snapping Mimi to attention. It was a gift of his. He could speak so quietly, so softly and still-- you would jump to attention. "I need you to be quiet. And I need you to not say anything about this to anyone, especially Tai. Okay?" His words were slow, measured and above all quiet. He did not need Tai barreling into the hallway and joining this lovely party of three.

"But you guys--" she began to squeal until Matt stepped forward once more which seemed to silence her.

"Mimi," he said again, his tone twisting into something more urgent than before. "Promise me you won't say anything to Tai. Promise me."

"But..." she whispered, finally understanding she had be quiet about this. "This is totally good! You guys must be soooo cute. Bad-boy with the wholesome chick. It's what Lifetime movies are made of!"

"This isn't a Lifetime movie," Matt reminded her calmly, peeking at the 'wholesome chick' who was looking supremely uncomfortable. He wanted to make it better for her. He needed to get through to Mimi. Too bad that's nearly a impossible task.

"Well, yeah, but--"

"No, Mimi. I mean it," Matt cut in. "Can you imagine if Tai found out? Just imagine. He wouldn't think it was cute. He'd be thinking more along the lines of bashing my head against that wall repeatedly. Think about it."

Mimi did think about it. He had a point, after all. Tai would definitely not be a fan. Understatement, actually, but still.

"It'd feel wrong to keep this from him..." she started, trailing off anxiously.

"It wouldn't be for long," Matt lied. He didn't know how long it'd be for. Maybe ever. "We really need you to do this for us." He was trying his hardest to be persuasive, using his silkiest voice. This voice was usually the one he assumed when attempting to entice females and it always worked. So while he wasn't trying to seduce Mimi (as if he ever would- she seemed like someone who would never shut up, even during sex) he figured the results had to be at least similar. Right?

Right. Mimi nodded finally, understanding his urgency. "Okay," she said, a little dazed, but that didn't last long. "Oh my Godddd, you guys are so perfect!" Mimi said with a little squeal. "Kari, you vixen, I can't believe you kept this from me! You two are so much better suited than you and TK, Kari. I mean, no offence to TK anything, God no! I love that guy like he's my own brother, but he's just as wholesome as you. And two wholesome people is way too much wholesome. It'd be like eating a banana with a banana shake on the side, you know? Too much of one thing."

Kari blinked, not understanding a single word Mimi said because she was concentrating on trying to mentally command her heart to slide back down her throat and into it's proper place. "Yeah," she said dumbly. "I just-- Mimi, you won't say anything? Not a single word, to anyone?"

"I won't," Mimi promised, sticking out her pinkie. "I'll even link pinkies with you."

Kari glanced down at Mimi's finger and shook her head. "Appreciated, but not necessary. Thank you, though."

"Welcome," Mimi chirped. She leaned forward, glanced at Matt who had fallen back into his cool, casual stance and then put her lips near Kari's ear and whispered, "Nice! You're pumping me with details tonight and I'll help you guys be the next Romeo and Juliet. Minus the depressing suicides and doths and thou art's. Call me." Then, straightening up she said, "Well, gotta get down to my smoking hot vehicle to grab my smoking hot... well, you know!" She giggled, making it perfectly clear that knowing was the last thing that Kari and Matt desired. She disappeared down the hallway of the apartment complex and disappeared around the corner and Matt let out a long sigh.

"Can you imagine if that hadn't been Mimi?" he asked wearily, the thought almost too horrible to bear.

"No," she said instantly, shuddering at the thought of it being Tai or her Mom. "That was definitely lucky."

"Lucky would have been not being caught at all," Matt pointed out, backing up a few steps to lean against the wall, still retaining the casual, cool-guy stance and let out a sigh.

"Is it... always going to be like this?" Kari asked, suddenly feeling timid. For the last few weeks, everything had been unsure. She had just found a moment where it wasn't unsure, where there was such a tremendous moment of clarity and now it was gone again and everything seemed more confusing than it had been before.

"No," he answered, if only because he didn't want her to worry. He had to be self assured enough for the both of them. He had to look out for Kari at all costs. Or at least, he wanted to. "Just for a while. Just til we get things figured out." It occurred to Matt that they were still standing outside, openly talking about all of this but he could also hear loud rock music coming from inside the apartment, undoubtedly from Tai's room, so the chance he could hear them was very, very, very low... he hoped. "We just have to figure it out."

"Okay," Kari said, choosing to believe him. She was quiet after that, just standing there, looking apprehensive and impossibly tiny and so damn pretty that Matt wanted to take her up against the wall and kiss her until neither of them could breathe. The urge was intense and he had to step back slightly to ensure his arms didn't reach out and snatch her up. But even though there was nothing else he'd rather do in the moment, he couldn't picture it happening. He couldn't picture him ever being rough with sweet, virginal Kari who seemed to ooze virtue from every square inch of her. It's not that he was trying to put her on a pedestal or anything. He fully knew that Kari had flaws. He had even caught her lying barely a few minutes earlier when Mrs. Kamiya had asked her about Suki's. Someone who was 100 percent virtuous would not have lied to their parents and then sneak off to a concert and after party. But still, she projected the image of everything good and everything i light /i because... well, despite her flaws, she i was /i Light. She was innocent. And it was really, really hot.

"I better get home," Matt said, impulsively reaching up to touch her face. He didn't kiss her, just took her in for a moment and then offered a little lopsided smile. Home. To where a hung over T.K. was probably just waking up. He had a hell of a gongshow in store for him. Good things and bad things all seemed to overlap. Good things: the band had done awesome. Him and Kari were a something. Bad things: angry, drunken brother and getting caught by Mimi. He wanted it all to be good, but that was human nature, wasn't it? To not want to deal with all the stupid shit in life? To not want to deal with your younger brother who's exgirlfriend you were now in a secret semi-relationship thing with? It was understandable, wasn't it?

Sure it was.

And it didn't make him a bastard, right? Double-crossing both his brother and his best friend?

Sure it didn't.

Neither answer convinced him but for the sake of himself, he had to pretend.

"Okay," she answered, smiling softly, though her smile still held traces of worry. "See you when I see you."

"See you when I see you," he reciprocated, retracting his hand and turning, heading down the hallway. He was barely thinking, just moving, so it caught him by surprise when he found himself at his car. He could see Mimi at the other end of the guest parking lot, head buried in her vehicle, apparently looking for something. He knew that if she saw him, she'd barrel him with questions so he hopped into his car (okay, he opened the door and lazily slid in) and sped off before she had the chance to. He did not need to dwell more. He needed to take this all in a stride. They'd eventually work through it, of this he was positive. He just really, really would not be able to handle any questioning from Mimi right now. He couldn't even handle his own questioning.

After Matt had left Kari went back into the apartment, ignored the giggles and chuckles coming from Tai's room, dodged questions from her mom and headed straight for the bathroom. She turned the shower on, stepping into it and wincing when a blast of scalding water hit her flesh. Scrunching her body protectively, she dared to snake her hand out and turn the water to a lesser temperature. She got it so it was relaxing hot and not 'slowly torturing to you scalding hot death' hot. She stayed there, still under the water until it slowly shifted to lukewarm, until it was finally so cold that she was chattering. The hands on the martini clock that hung beside the bathroom mirror revealed it to be 9:37, a whole hour since she'd entered the bathroom. It was 7 PM and she'd come in at 6. The clock was a dumb buy on Tai's part, a dollar purchase at a garage sale. When he brought it home, it was revealed why it was so cheap (besides being ugly) -- it was broken. It would tick, but you couldn't wind it up to change the time; it would just go on from that setting. Upset, Taichi banished it to the bathroom where no one had ever gotten around to taking it down, despite how inappropriate their parents thought it was. Everyone had gotten used to the clock being two hours and 37 minutes ahead.

She stared at the clock again. 7:04. She'd just dazed off, thinking about the clock. Pathetic.

She glanced toward the mirror. Her hair appeared curly and dark, but she knew within the half hour it would have lightened and straightened out. Suki always fingered her own wavy hair, sighed and complained saying, "It's so unfair that your hair dries straight! You were blessed, you lucky bitch." And Kari would always return with a "I'd rather have wavy hair, straight hair is so boring" even though she secretly agreed with Suki. Her immune system was crap, let her have good hair, okay?

7:05.

She decided to floss her teeth. It felt like it was morning.

7:07.

She was fidgety. She could not stop playing with her charm bracelet and she was still a little lightheaded, from standing under the shower for so long. She contemplated blowdrying her hair but she couldn't summon the energy. It's not that she was listless, she was just... well... worried. And with good reason. She had a lot to be worried about. And as hard as tried not to be worried, hard as she tried to tell herself that it was okay, that it would get figured out, that Tai and TK would understand... she was still not assured. Not one little bit. She had to have faith though, right? Had to see the "light" in the situation because that's what she stood for.

She got what she wanted. She got Matt (the idea was still surreal, but it excited her all the same). So what was with the sinking feeling? Why wouldn't it go away?

What if Mimi tells? a voice nagged, interrupting her pessimistic thoughts for even more pessimistic thoughts.

She won't, Kari mentally argued vehemently.

It might slip out, the stupid voice continued and she felt like shoving a fork into her brain to shut it up. Even the thought was way too gross (and deranged for that matter) to seriously consider.

She shuddered. She was going schizophrenic, wasn't she? Or at least a little insane.

She had to talk to Mimi.

The thought came like a fresh breeze of air and the tiny sliver of an idea for course of action eliminated the annoying voice inside her head. It faded.

How are you going to talk to Mimi when she's virtually stuck to Tai? it spoke up once more.

Well. Almost.

Absentmindedly, she squirted a few drops of lotion onto her palm and rubbed her hands together and finally left the bathroom at 7:09. She now had a mission in mind: Find Mimi. Throw self at Mimi's feet and make 110 percent sure that Mimi wouldn't say anything, even if someone threatened to stain her best Jimmy Choo's.

Okay, maybe she could make Mimi swear secrecy but the last part was a longshot.

Still, she would pretend.

This sucked. Kari had been waiting all night for Mimi to leave the apartment building so she could grab an opportunity to talk to her but nooo, heaven forbid she left her precious Tai's side! God! It's not like they were married. Okay, Kari wasn't actually that mad about it, because Mimi and her brother were cute and they'd been dating since they were in high school and she fully wanted to be a bridesmaid if they ever did get married.

But seriously? Would it harm them so much to stay away from each other for a few minutes, just enough time for Kari to swoop in and plead her heart out to Mimi to not breathe a word? Would it really?

She never got her chance to catch Mimi however, because Mimi was staying over. Why didn't her parents put a stop to this? It was … indecent. Even if they were like, twenty.

Indecent and totally cute.

She sighed, rolling over in her bed. It was 2 AM now and she still couldn't get to sleep. She hadn't talked to Matt since she left, the mere thought of talking to T.K. left a sickening feeling in her stomach and she just didn't have enough energy to talk to anyone else.

Finally, at quarter to three, Kari decided that this was ridiculous. She needed to sleep! Wasn't there something about warm milk lulling people to sleep? At this point, she was willing to try anything. She kicked off her covers, slipped on her slippers and quietly made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a mug and a jug of milk. As she was putting the mug into the microwave after filling it up with milk, she heard footsteps behind her. Her heartbeat quickened and she froze for a moment.

Don't be stupid, she chided herself, but couldn't help but be paranoid either.

Slowly, she turned around.

"Hi!" a very dishevelled looking Mimi whispered, trying to smooth down her hair. Not that it mattered. Even Mimi, at her most dishevelled, looked like she could walk a runway or something. Unfair. "You can't sleep either? Stupid Tai is snoring like a freight train today. Usually it's light enough so it doesn't bother me but he's being all nasally so, like, whatever."

"Right," Kari agreed briskly. She was well aware of Tai's annoying sleep habits and not very interested in it either. No, she'd been waiting for about eight hours now for an opportunity to talk to Mimi and now the chance had practically fallen into her lap screaming its presence. She would sieze it.

"Mimi, I have to talk to you."

Mimi blinked and nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Her meticulously groomed eyebrows quirked up and she smirked. "Oh wait, let me guess! The totally torrid love affair between you and Matt!" She squealed. "Yeah! Let's talk about that, oh, pretty please. For starters--"

"Shhh," Kari interrupted in a begging tone. "What if someone hears you?"

"Aww, doll, you're so paranoid!" Mimi gushed like it was absolutely the most adorable thing in the entire world. "No one will hear you, it's like, three AM," she assured the younger girl.

"Well, what if someone does?" Kari insisted worriedly. "Oh, God! What if..." She paused as an idea hit her. "Let's invent code names!"

"Code names?" Mimi repeated, scrunching her nose. "That's so ... not cool."

Kari ignore the jibe. "Well, in case we ever need to talk about or something, we can talk about our 'friend' ... um ... Katie!" she invented. "And Matt can be ... Max. And TK--"

"Can be TJ!" Mimi suggested, getting into the spirit.

"A little too obvious," Kari let her down gently. "How about..." She never found an ending to her sentence. Her mind was blank. She couldn't think of anything. "Umm..."

"Jacob," Mimi chirped.

"Jac... yeah, sure," Kari agreed, thinking Jacob was better than nothing. "Jacob it is. So, when in a situation where others could hear, always use code names."

"Do I have to use them right now?"

Kari though about that, her lips twisted in decision. "No," she finally decided.

"Okay. Awesome. So, you plus Matt equals totally hot and details for Mimi, yes/yes?"

And for the first time, Kari let out a short squeal. Up to this point it'd been nothing but constant angsting over the Matt situation. 'I think I like him.' ' know I like him.' 'I kissed him!' 'Mimi knows!' Doom, gloom, heavy stomach, etc. So she hadn't actually been able to to the necessary girly thing and squeal about it for a moment. Sure, she hated squealing but this occasion called for it. And yes, there was still doom and gloom and a heavy stomach but right now - just now - she wanted to be able to bask in the knowledge that she was quasi-dating the hottest guy ever.

"It was just so... weird," Kari summarized with a sigh.

Mimi grinned at her. "But good weird, right? Tell me, how did the whole TK thing go down?"

"Well, you are the only human being who knows. Besides, well, me at Matt. And I never cheated on him. Maybe emotionally, but ... never physically. This feelings for Matt, they just-- I can't exactly pinpoint when they began, you know?" Mimi nodded. "It just began to grow and suddenly it had flourished to something... something so out of my control. And it was like, I wanted to always be around him. I wanted to do cute and pretty things so he'd notice me which I know is so unlike me but I couldn't help it. And I felt so guilty, because here's TK, the kindest, most sincere guy I know and I liked him so much. I thought... I thought at one point that I loved him but... I don't know."

"It's possible to love someone and not be in love with them," Mimi reminded her gently.

"I know, but I don't think that was the case. That's usually with siblings and with friends and ... it doesn't pertain to me and TK. I mean, if I loved him, I would have to love him. And ... it all just happened so fast. I suddenly just ... saw Matt in a completely different light. And it first I kind of hoped 'okay, small infatuation with a gorgeous, talented older guy'... it'll go away.' But it didn't. And then within the last day or so ... it escalated. It was crazy! I mean, I fainted at that party and he was so sweet, so, so sweet and I kissed him and oh my gosh, it was so awkward and ... then it all just clumsily came together and Mimi, I like him so much, what am I going to do?"

"You're going to date him," Mimi told her simply.

"Well, that's the plan, but--"

"But T.K.," the older girl filled in.

"Yep," Kari affirmed dejectedly. "I know I have been unforgivably horrible to him lately but... I care about him so much. He's the first boy I ever had real feelings for. He was one of my first best friends. And we've been through so much together and I know he likes me still and ... I don't want to hurt him."

"I'm sorry, Kari, I know you don't want to hear this but... it's kind of inevitable."

Kari let out a groan. "I was afraid of that. I just... want him to one day forgive me. And Matt. But the mere thought of even telling him makes me absolutely cringe. What will he say? You know what, don't answer that. Just answer this: are relationships always this hard?"

Mimi felt the relationship master at that moment, giving all this guidance to Kari. If the circumstances hadn't been so unspeakably shitty, she'd be so pumped right now. She loved playing love doctor! In fact ... the gears in her head starting reeling.

"Meems?" Kari prompted, tilting her head slightly. "You still in there?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Mimi said quickly and apologetically. "Okay, I'm gonna put it this way for you, doll: Relationships suck sometimes. They make you their bitch. And you scream, and you fight, and you cry and if you're lucky, there's awesome make up sex but somedays it just seems so stupid and hard that you want to say 'screw this, I'm totally gorgeous, who needs Tai, I could get any guy I want' but for the most part it's like ... 'I'm the luckiest girl ever'. Except substitute Tai for Matt. Because ... gross. And yeah, love triangles suck more because usually everyone gets hurt in some way but hey, I know you, you're strong. Just ... get through this and it'll all end up okay. Because ... you know, life usually does. It gets worse than the rash you get from cheap make up but it gets bearable enough to go out in public."

Kari wrinkled her nose briefly but smiled softly at Mimi's little speech and analogy. It was definitely kind of offhand but it was ... inspiring, kind of. To know things wouldn't always suck. And maybe this could work. "You really love Tai, huh?"

Mimi smiled. "Of course. I mean, he's a total guys guy which you know, gets in the way of me being a total girly girl but ... it kinda cancels out, in a way and leaves a big ... um ... it just works." She laughed quietly. "Yeah. I love him. A lot. He makes me happy. Plus, he's a total--"

"Don't want to hear it," Kari interrupted quickly. "So... I hope this means you won't breathe a word to Tai. Or TK. Or anyone. Oh, or Sora! Hey, Meems, what's the deal on Sora and Matt?"

"Nothing much," Mimi said with a shrug. "They hang out sometimes. She's kinda interested in this one guy in his band, Trent, so she's been hanging around with him more, trying to pick up on some details. It's totally sneaky and not even a Sora thing to do. It's more of a me thing. I'm so glad I'm rubbing off on her."

"Oh.

Oh. That's why Sora had been seemingly attached to Matt. That's why Sora had been kind of snarky to her after the band played the other night. Because...

Kari had to laugh at how ridiculous she was. "Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure. I'm her best friend, she tells me things," Mimi assured her. "How come?"

"I thought she was interested in Matt," Kari revealed, laughing a bit more. Well. That's one thing she didn't have to worry about.

"Oh, God no!" Mimi assured her. "Matt's always charmed her and impressed her and yeah, she used to have a bit of a crush on him but they worked better as friends, so tada. Oh wow, I can't believe you thought that. That's so cute! Aww."

"How is that cute?" Kari didn't understand Mimi's mind.

"It just is." She shrugged. "So, have you and Matt gone on an actual date yet?"

Kari shook her head no. "No. I wish! But too much risk of exposure. Plus this whole thing kind of just started. In fact, it's all pretty muddled." Kari instantly got worried. "What if he doesn't even--"

"Shut up," Mimi told her with a roll of her eyes. "Stop worrying." An idea began formulating in her head and she grinned. God, she was so awesome it hurt sometimes. "Alright, Kar, well, this was great and all but I think Tai stopped sleeping, so I'm gonna head to bed. Sweet dreams!"

"You too, Mimi. And thanks."

Mimi winked. "Not a problem, doll."

"Oh, and Mimi?"

"Mmmhmm?"

"Tai really loves you too."

Mimi grinned. "I know."

It was a few days later when she got the call.

"Kari, come quick!" And then the line went dead.

Kari wondered if Mimi often specialized in nearly giving people heart attacks often because Kari could almost feel her heart stop and then swing into full force, ricocheting around and then gaining so much momentum that it crashed and brought her right back where she started. Totally freaked out.

Well. She was being just a tad bit dramatic, maybe. Side effect from hanging out with Davis too often, probably. But then again, in her defence, the message was cryptic and Mimi sounded very, very urgent. Needless to say, Kari booted it over ASAP.

Holding her breath, Kari knocked...

... and got no answer.

Okay.

She was officially worried.

"Mimi?" she tried calling, pressing her ear against the door tightly. "Mimi, please answer."

But there was none.

Sucking in her breath, she twisted the knob open and slowly crept in. She was suspicious and on guard, alternating glancing in front of her and behind her every few seconds.

Wait!

Did she just hear something in the kitchen?

But rather than feel like she was going to be sick, she balled her fists and burst into the kitchen.

She gasped.

No Mimi.

No … anyone.

Just a table. With two plates, some pots in the middle, was that champagne? Candles … dimmed lights. Okay, what the frakking hell was going on here?

"Kari?"

She whirled around. It was Matt.

"Matt?" She breathed out in relief and hugged him tightly. "Did Mimi call you?"

He returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her small waist and drawing her in closely. She smelled fantastic, like usual, and he didn't want to tear away but he did.

"Yeah. She just said 'come quick' and I thought something happened to someone … or maybe, for some reason, something to do with the Digital World. Either way… hey, where is she?"

"I don't know," Kari admitted, wrinkling her forehead. "Mimi! Mimi!"

"Mimi! Get your ass over--" And then his cellphone began ringing. Startled, he grabbed it from the pocket of his jeans and smirked at it. "It's Mimi."

"Ooh, give it to me, please?" Kari begged. He shrugged and wordlessly handed it over. "I hate you," was the first thing she said.

"You looove me," Mimi cooed with a giggle.

Kari glanced around at the done up dining room. Tablecloth on the table, bucket of ice with a bottle of champagne sticking out, elegant champagne glasses, food, dishes, candles … even some roses. All for them. It was so … perfect.

"You're right," Kari agreed. "I love you. I can't believe you did all this."

"Yeah, I know, aren't I the best? I made the food myself, so it's awesome, trust me -- and before you say anything I will have you know that I am a fantastic cook -- and my parents are gone until tomorrow. So if you want to get frisky, tonight's the night. No one can interrupt you or find you at my place."

Kari was almost speechless. Almost. "Thank you, Mimi. You're amazing."

"About time you noticed!" Mimi grinned. "Use condoms."

Kari's jaw fell open. "Mimi! I'm not going to… you… know." She shifted the phone's position with her ear and glanced over at Matt who's eyebrows were quirked in confusion.

"Kidding! God!" She could imagine Mimi on the other end, rolling her eyes. "Okay kids, have fun! Love you. Have fun with... er, Max."

"You're the best," Kari said quickly before she hung up and then turned to Matt, handing over the phone and shaking her head with a grin. "Mimi did this for us. Since we can't have a 'normal' date and all."

"Yeah?" Matt's eyes lit up and he wrapped Kari up in his arms once more, angling his neck so he could nip at the underside of her jaw in a way that sent her eyes practically rolling back in bliss. "I'm going to have to buy her a present," he said quietly, his hot breath on her skin.

She could barely stand it. "Let's eat."

"Let's eat."

"Wait, so, you really were spying on me?" Matt asked her incredulously, trying not to laugh and fail miserably. He was referencing back to the incident where she had been caught on the stairs staring at him. Yeah. Good times. Not. Then again, all of that had mingled together to bring her to this … perfection. Only word that worked.

"No!" she protested, blushing furiously. "I wasn't! I was just … you happened to be there."

"And of course, you thought, 'Man, he's so hot' and stared on for like an hour--"

"A minute--"

"Practically begging me to notice you--"

"Mortified that you had!"

She was blushing even more now. Damn, was that ever sexy in a very precious, understated way. It was weird. Matt's usual type was tall, leggy and in-your-face-hot. The girl was usually flirtatious, outrageous and confident.

And then usually not too long later, he'd find another one to fit the criteria. He usually liked to switch up hair colors too. Brunette, blonde, redhead- that was the cycle. There were, of course, exceptions.

Kari was tall and leggy, but she was not in-your-face-hot. She wasn't very flirtatious, she wasn't outrageous and she wasn't overwhelming confident.

God help him, but he wanted her so badly anyway. And it wasn't just a physical thing, either. He was the first to admit: he had a fair bit of casual sex. He was in his prime, why not bask in it, right? But Kari … she was someone he could love. Someone that he genuinely liked being around. And it all had happened so fast, she had always been there but suddenly she wasn't just … little Kari, Tai's sister, TK's girlfriend. She was Kari- smart and strong and beautiful and had completely gotten under his skin without even trying.

… He wasn't becoming like, whipped, was he? As in Shakespeare sonnets and tragedy and love and stuff, though all the swordfights in the movies were way cool.

Nah.

Not even Kari could strip him of his manhood.

… So … so… hah!

Kari smiled adorably at him. "Whatcha thinking about?"

Yeah, like he could tell her that. "That you're beautiful."

A smile broke out on her face and she glanced down, laughing a little sheepishly. "I still can't believe Mimi did this for us … she's a godsend." She glanced down at her half-empty plate. The champagne had been opened but only Matt had taken a drink from it. His champagne glass was already drained, two times over.

He nudged her elbow with his. "Have some champagne. You're making me feel like an alcoholic, babe."

She shook her head at first but at his hilarious and exaggerated eyebrow wiggling, she relented with a grin.

"You're a bad influence," she told him with a small wink, wagging her finger.

"Part of my charm," he assured her, squeezing her hand.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows. "Charming people by corruption?"

"I'm not sure champagne necessarily counts as … 'corruption.' Besides, you can't corrupt someone who doesn't want to be corrupted."

"Oh really?"

"Really." He skipped a beat and smirked. "You want to be corrupted?"

"Depends," she answered, uncharacteristically coy.

"On?"

"What's in it for me?"

He had to laugh at that. This conversation was so ludicrous, but it was easy and fun and he just felt so … comfortable. "You mean besides a life of crime and general … you know, general evilness?"

She paused before answering solemnly, "Yes."

"I'd dig it."

"And if I didn't?"

He squeezed her hand again. "I'd like it even more. Never go corrupt, okay?"

She glanced at the champagne she had taken a drink of guiltily. "Well…"

"I don't mean that," he said, rolling his eyes and getting out of his chair suddenly, abandoning his plate and immediately going over around to table to her. He nodded upward and lent out his hand, which she took to get herself up. "I'm just saying, the whole innocent thing is a major turn on."

"That so?" She kissed him, with that, taking in his scent. He smelled like … like expensive cologne mixed with … vanilla? He had probably been baking. She grinned at that. It was so funny sometimes. Here he was, huge rocker, major heartthrob and total bad ass. And he cooked. She had to laugh a little.

"Oh yeah," he confirmed, mumbling against her lips. His hands were lightly set on her hips though they were itching to explore the rest of her body. It was hard to feel guilty about deceiving Tai and TK when they were so damn close.

They started kissing more intently, Kari carefully following Matt's lead. He wasn't … aggressive, per se, but he wasn't exactly gentle either. Not like TK. TK always made sure, TK never went too far. He never went anywhere even in earshot in too far. But maybe Kari needed this. The intensity. The guarantee of desire on his part, that he wanted her, he wanted all of her. Maybe she needed to be pushed, just a little bit.

Gaining confidence, she shed her sweater inbetween kisses, leading him out of the kitchen and toward one of the plush couches in the Tachikawa living room. They gently transitioned onto it, until they were horizontal on the couch, her (surprisingly) on top. His lips seemed to mold so nicely with hers.

And as she was kissing him, she finally got it. Temptation. How hard it was to resist sometimes. Why people made mistakes- because it was easy to. It was easy to keep going. It was so easy.

But it wasn't right. Because she simply was not ready for it to go further. Therefore, after a moment she pulled away and smiled at him softly. "Think we should go?"

He understood completely, and nodded. "Sure." He closed his eyes for a moment and another thought occurred to him. "Or we could just … talk. You know. Just talk."

And talk they did. She called her parents, saying she was at Suki's studying and was it okay if she stayed over, despite it being a school night? The answer had been a tentative yes, but a yes nonetheless. Matt called TK to say he was gonna be hanging out with the band all night. And both of them felt bad about lying, of course, but not that bad. Because it was hard to be miserable when the person you cared for so deeply was lying in your arms, breathing to the same pattern as you and quietly mumbling their dreams and aspirations and secrets.

Good? Bad? Bood? Gad? ;D Let me know, with the shiny button! Submit review, whatever it says. Really! 144 reviews ... that's amazing, guys. You're also fucking AWESOME! Anyone who has ever supported this story, MUAH TO YOU!

Also, for curiositities sake: How many of you only became Yakari fans after reading this story?