Twice Betrayed - Segment 2

Twice Betrayed - Segment 2

A soft knock on the door brought me out of my reverie. It was Tai. He hadn't even said anything and I knew. Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I opened the door.

"Sora told me everything. I'm sorry. I didn't know what she was doing." Tai looked tired. I was sure he was trying to deal with this as much as I was.

"She tell you why?" I didn't really want to hear the answer, but it felt like the right thing to say.

Tai let out a short back of harsh laughter. "Yeah. She said that since I was cheating on her with you, she could to. I guess she liked having the best of both worlds."

I was stunned. Tai and I together? Normally I'd laugh at that, but for some reason it didn't strike me as funny now. I tried to read Tai's reaction to Sora's words, but his face was blank, and his eyes, normally full of sparkle and fire, were dull.

"Tai..." I didn't really know what to say. I found myself wishing that he'd smile, that he'd show me he'd be ok. I didn't know what to do.

It was then that the phone rang. This time it was dad calling to say he'd be home in about a half hour, and to have dinner ready. That gave me something to do.

Tai followed me into the kitchen. He seemed content to sit and watch me. He had a light in his eyes now, which gladdened me, but it also made me uneasy. Normally if a had an audience while cooking it didn't bother me, but this was...

"What are you thinking about, Matt?"

Tai's question caught me off guard. I really didn't know how to answer. What was I thinking, anyway? Thinking fast with what wits I had left, I answered.

* * *

My dad walked through the door at that moment, drowning out whatever incoherent rely I had managed to make.

:I am so glad Tai didn't hear that: It was hard to tell from the look on Tai's face, but I was hoping that he hadn't heard. I'm not even going to repeat what I said it was that... inelegant.

Dad wasn't surprised that Tai was over. Looking back at the past few weeks, I realized that Tai and I could be considered a couple we were together that much. Thinking about that made me think about Sora's comment about Tai cheating on her with me, and that led me to think about Tai. For some reason my brain was producing all sorts of images of Tai and me, and as a result I hardly touched dinner.

Dad must have thought I was sick. He even asked if I was feeling well. How could I tell him that it was the thoughts going through my head, rather than some virus, that was making me feverish?

After saying that I should probably get more sleep and asking Tai not to stay too long, my dad retired to his room.

Tai and I were alone.