A/N:: Thanks so much for all your support! It truly means a lot to me! Please enjoy chapter 12! :D


Ch 12

We approach the line for the caramel apples, but Tk and Davis bounce over to us, handing us each one.

"you guys took forever!" Tk grinned as I took the apple from him.

"Come on! We have to hurry!" Davis whines as Tai takes his from the boy. I watch them, and Tai seems to be glaring daggers at the younger brunette.

"You guys go ahead, we're going to head to the ferris wheel." I smile at them. David grabs Tk's hand.

"I told you, dude, let's go! The haunted house awaits!" and with that, my brother is lead away. Tai sighs beside me.

"Maybe I should talk to him." he frowns. I grab his free hand loosely.

"I don't think he knows how he feels yet." I half whispered. We sat down at a nearby picnic table, watching the ferris wheel turn in the distance.

"Maybe I should talk to Kari." he tries again. I look over at him sadly, but he's still just watching the festival in front of us.

"Maybe. What do you think you'll say?" he hesitates, before looking up at me.

"I guess it would help if she understood about us." he looked away for a second before continuing shyly.

"but I guess to do that, I'd have to understand about us." I think he's expecting me to explain, but I can't quite figure out what to say. Are we boyfriends? No, not quite. I don't know that I'm comfortable with that yet. Lovers? No, that implies we're having sex, and sex with a man is DEFINITELY not something I'm ready for. A moment passes before he blushes.

"Sorry, you don't have to... Sorry." I smile warmly down at him.

"I don't think I understand yet either. But I love you. And I'd like to think that you love me too." I said quietly.

"And I know it's more than friendship. I know that." I continued. He smiled up at me.

"That's a good start." we finished our caramel apples then began walking to the ferris wheel. We held hands the whole way there, pointing at different colorful rides and attractions, and smiling to each other. When we got to the line for the ferris wheel, Tai began to grin.

"It's been so long since I've been on one of these!" he bounced slightly. I smiled warmly down at him, squeezing his hand affectionately. A flash went off, and we both looked up startled.

"Ishda Yamattooo! Oh my god! I'm your biggest fan! We've met once before, at that party on safaia street!" I frowned down at the girl, not recognizing her at all. Her camera though...

"Oh. You took that picture of me and Kris." I pointed at her old school Polaroid. She beamed.

"Yes! I run the immortalteenwolf website!" she squealed.

"It is SUCH an honor! And who's your friend?" she blushed. I frowned, not wanting my personal life thrown online. I pulled my hand away from Tai's, shoving it in my pocket.

"Look, uhm, what did you say your name was?" she squealed again.

"Ohmygod, uhm, Sakura?" she seemed to ask. I smiled down at her, forcing a polite, charming look.

"Sakura. I'm really just trying to relax with my friends today, but if you want an interview, you can email my band mates and me at this address." I pull a card out of my wallet, and she takes it with another loud squeal.

"Oh my god, thank you! Have a good time!" she blushes, and hurries away. I sigh in relief as she skips away.

"God I hate that." I mutter, wondering to myself how many thousands of people will see that picture.

"Don't lie." Tai smiles at me.

"You love your fans!" I laugh.

"Yeah, but from a distance!" we stepped onto the ferris wheel cart, sitting across from each other.

"Hope she got my good side, after all, I'll be on the immortalteenwolf website with the great Ishda Yamatto!" I roll my eyes at him.

"Like you have any other side." he looks up at me blushing.

"W-what?" I smile at him, blushing a bit myself as the cart begin to lift off the ground. We stay quiet for a long while until we reach the top. I look over at Tai, and he looks back. I smile as I realize his gooey eyes are reflecting my own. I lean forward and kiss him gently. His lips are chapped and rough, but his cheek is warm and smooth under my hand. He tastes of caramel apples and coffee, and a light hint of something resembling cinnamon. I smile as he kisses back with more passion. His right hand's on the back of my neck, buried in my hair. His left is on my hip, sending waves of heat through my bones. Finally we break apart with a few last little kisses.

"My god, Yama." he breathes, warm eyes searching my own.

"Yeah." I whisper back, unable to believe the perfection of that moment. Too soon, the ferris wheel stops, and we need to get off. I take his hand, and lead him back out into the festival.

We wander for a while before seeing Tk and Davis running toward us.

"Matt! Tai!" Tk yells with a grin when he spots us. He gets closer, and I notice the giant stuffed pig on his back.

"Davis won it for me at the ring toss!" I smile at them, but Davis suddenly frowns.

"You guys are holding hands." he observes. I look over at Tai shyly, but neither one of us pulls away.

"Yep." Tai states simply.

"That's sure one nice pig!" he continues. Tk grins.

"Isn't it? He had to hit the center five times to get it! Guess how many tries it took him?!" Tk pulled the stuffed animal around to hug it to his chest. Davis blushed.

"Mmh, twenty-three?" Tai randomly guesses with a grin.

"seven!" Tk bursts out, staring at Davis with gleaming eyes. Davis shrugged.

"No big deal, I mean I missed a few times." he blushed further. I rolled my eyes

"Yeah Tk, don't inflate his ego too much, it might pop!" we all laughed before Davis suggested we head back to the food court.

"Time for you to try a deep fried Twinkie! I can never eat the whole thing, so we'll have to share!" Davis winked at Tk, causing him to blush lightly. They walked ahead of us a bit, chattering and bouncing excitedly.

"You want a corn dog?" I asked Tai, pointing to one of the stands closer to us.

"And lemonade if they have it." he grins up at me.

"Alright, go grab us a table, I'll be right there." I smile as I watch him walk away. Once I pay for the food, I wade through the crowd, looking for Tai's bushy hair. I smile as he waves me over to the bench where he's sitting across from Tk and Davis. I sit down next to him, handing him one of the corn dogs in my left hand, and the lemonade in my right.

"Oh my god, Davis, this is amazing!" Tk grinned at the other boy after eating a forkful of deepfried Twinkie. I shook my head at them.

Even after we finished eating, we stayed at the table, and it felt like old times; well, the times before yesterday. As the sun began to set, Davis ran off, pulling Tk behind him again.

"The fireworks are gonna start soon! We gotta get a good seat!" he yelled as the pair of them ran off. I sighed deeply.

"You ok, Matt?" Tai asked, watching me with concerned eyes. I smile lightly.

"Better. This was good." I set my hand on the bench next to me, and he lays his on top lightly.

"Yeah." he smiles distractedly, and I wonder if he's remembering our ferris wheel ride. I've kissed a lot of girls. Sometimes it's because I was trying to date them, other times it was just a fleeting way to get what I wanted. (Like the time at the karaoke bar for example) but until today, I've never had a real kiss; one that sets your soul on fire, and shows you what it's like to be alive. No, as far as I'm concerned, today was my first kiss.

"You ready to check out the fireworks?" he asks me with glistening eyes.

"Sounds good."

We found a nice spot in the grass on a hill overlooking the fairgrounds. There were a few other groups of people around, but we were higher up than them so it still felt secluded. Tai flopped down with a sigh. He looked up at me, using his hands as a pillow. In the light of the moon, his eyes glistened, his hair waving slightly from the breeze. I laid down at his side, and for a while we just watched each other contentedly. When the fireworks began, Tai nervously edged over to me. I lifted my arm, inviting him onto my chest. We cuddled and watched the light show, and it all felt perfect.